Evacuate The Dance Floor
by thesinandthesinner
Summary: Sirius Black and the rest of the Marauders are forced to learn ballroom dancing in lieu of their horrendous "dancing" at the Halloween Ball.The worst part is that he's partnered with one of the few girls in school who has ignored his existence.Ooops.
1. Prologue: Mandatory Dance Lessons

_A/N: This is my first fanfiction (that I've decided to post online), inspired by 2serendipity's Shadowdancing story (if you haven't read it, you should it's amazing). I love Sirius Black and the whole Marauder's era, friendship and the development of one is one of the major themes of this story along with romance._

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"You've got to be joking me!" an annoyed voice rang out across the Gryffindor Common Room.

Lea de Tourval barely raised an eyebrow at the interruption. After six years of chaos and magic at Hogwarts, you get used to unwanted distractions. That or you either developed an extraordinary capability of zoning out and tuning out your surroundings.

She continued to peruse her Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) textbook for information she needed to compete her essay.

"I can't believe they're making us do this!" another indignant voice said.

Complains kept bouncing around the room for a good ten minutes or so. Lea dipped her quill in her ink pot and then thoughtfully looked at her parchment. Figuring out the words she wanted to say, her hand moved across the surface creating a graceful trail of cursive lettering after it.

"LEA! Did you not hear this? Look at this!" Lily said brandishing an official looking piece of parchment.

"Hey! You made me blot my essay." Lea exclaimed. Annoyed, she waved her wand over it and siphoned off the offending mark.

"What's up Lily?" James voice came over Lea's shoulder. He clapped a hand on her shoulder and jostled her once more. Damnit. Another ink blot.

"People! Trying to finish an essay here!" she growled waving her wand once more.

"Well if you must know, the professors are making all sixth and seventh year take mandatory dancing lessons in lieu of our…_dancing_ at the Halloween Ball. They want to avoid that for the Winter Formal." Lily said with disdain.

"WHAT." Sirius yelled. He had just woken up from a nap and made his way down the stairs and heard Lily's voice. Peter followed him.

Peter followed everyone to be honest. Sometimes, Lea wondered, honest to god, why exactly they were mates with him. He didn't really do much…except try to weasel out of doing homework by copying hers or Remus' work.

Lea raised an eyebrow and signaled to Lily that she wanted to read the announcement.

Her eyes scanned down the parchment and she passed it over to Remus who had been working next to her.

"Huh." He commented after a moment. The group looked at each other. James finally broke the silence.

"It's not the end of the world. And c'mon…we kind of did go crazy at Halloween."

"You're Head Boy! YOU went the most crazy grinding up against Dorcas," Sirius snorted.

"Hey! I wasn't grinding on her, she was grinding on me!" he argued.

"Yeah yeah yeah," was all he got and a dismissive wave.

"That wasn't dancing. That was…vertical foreplay." Lily groaned. She collapsed on an armchair near the fire. Sirius took a perch on the armrest and swung an arm around her. James looked sourly at him.

"Yeah, but I don't recall you complaining about it," Sirius said cheekily. Lily shoved him off the armrest. With a cry of mild discomfort, Sirius stretched himself across the hearthrug. From there he had a view of Lea's pretty legs stretched out in front of him.

Sure said legs were encased in a pair of the standard knee-high navy socks, but he could glimpse of smooth creamy skin further up before her skirt covered it again.

Lea stared into the fire unaware of the surrounding conversation. Remus nudged her. "Hey, what's up?" he asked softly so the others couldn't hear him.

Broken out of her trance, she turned to him and smiled. "Nothin. Just thinking. I mean, it's what James said, it's not the end of the world."

"Yeah, it might even be fun!" James said with a hopeful voice.

Sirius shot him a look. "Really? Fun? Did you not see the word BALLROOM before dancing? As in, we're learning old stuffy dancing from the 1800's or before?"

The six of them looked at each other. Lea chewed her lip contemplatively and then shrugged. Sirius tapped his wand against his forehead repeatedly.

For as long as Lea could remember, the six of them had always been together, more or less. Not all of them had started off good mates, but as the years went by, they had somehow become a close knit group with various dysfunctions to them. With Lily and James as Head Girl and Boy, the hate that Lily usually displayed towards him had died down and she tolerated him more or less.

In fact, she had even learned to find humour in some of the things he said. Sometimes.

No one said anything for a moment.

"Ballroom dancing? Seriously?" James sputtered.

"Oh no," Lily groaned.

"Oh good," Remus remarked.

"Oh boy," Lea muttered under her breath.

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_A/N: This chapter is shorter than the others since it's a prologue, the rest will be longer. Let me know if you liked it or not! Reviews are greatly appreciated.:)_


	2. Partnered With the Devil

A/N: Enjoy!

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_"All slow dancing was really only about getting close to someone you wanted close_

_ or being forced to be close to someone you wished was far, far away"_

-This Lullaby

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On Friday night after dinner, the Sixth and Seventh years of each house assembled in the Great Hall. It had been cleared of the tables and a gramophone was situated in the middle of it. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Slughorn and Longstreet stood in front of the teenagers.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "Now, all of you know why you are here. In lieu of your disgraceful behaviour at the Halloween Ball, we professors have agreed that you must learn the art of dancing. And what more, good_ behaviour_."

Sirius looked slightly alarmed at the prospect that his professors would be teaching them dancing. McGonagall looked formidable with her hair tied back in a severe bun emphasizing the sharpness of her features. She looked even more stern than usual.

Suppressed laughing tittered across the group. She shot them a look and they fell silent.

"Now, Professor Longstreet has graciously given us his time to teach you ballroom dancing along with two other instructors who will be joining us shortly."

The girls in the group exchanged sly looks with one another. It was well known that the new DADA professor was fit as anything. It made every girl in school compete for his attention and his presence inspired many student professor relationship fantasies.

However, professional as ever, he taught with firm discipline and kept his interactions with his female students to a minimum. He was a man on a mission: to teach them how to defend themselves. To arm them with knowledge and confidence.

And now, his mission was to teach them how to dance.

"Each of you will be partnered," she continued. Murmurs rose from the group. Annoyed that she had been interrupted again, "And no, you will not be choosing your own partners." She finished more sharply than intended to.

Groans arose. Lea and Lily exchanged a look. They both knew what they were thinking. _"Please not a Slytherin."_

Their third roommate, Marlene gave a nervous look at her boyfriend, Benjy who glowered at the professors. She held his hand reassuringly.

James and Sirius were too busy to notice what she had said. James was preoccupied with staring at the back of Lily's head and Sirius was playing with his wand seemingly oblivious to what was going on.

"I know all of you don't want to spend three days a week learning how to dance for the next eight weeks with each other. But as an extra incentive, there will be a competition.

After six weeks, you will elect the best couple from each house to perform a dance at the opening of the Winter Formal. The four couples will compete against each other and whoever performs the best will win two hundred points for their respective house." McGonagall said.

James heard this and his mouth dropped open slightly. If someone from Gryffindor won the competition, then the two hundred points would surely put them well ahead of Slytherin.

Currently they were behind, thanks to Sirius' and his last prank which had cost them 50 points and other minor infractions others had caused.

Satisfied, McGonagall signaled for Sprout to produce a list of which presumably had the dance partners.

"Now when I call your names, please come together and move off to the side!" her voice said loudly.

Inexplicably Lily felt a tightening in her chest. Now that there was a competition against the houses, she knew that the partners had to be in house. Anxiety filled her. She wondered who'd be her partner and hoped she would get Remus or even Sirius. If she was James's partner…then the universe surely hated her.

But why would she be feeling panicked about James? She didn't like him. Not one little bit. Sure he was handsome, in the typical Quidditch player jock way, but still. He was cocky.

"Sturgis Podmore and Riley Abbot!" Sprout announced. The first Ravenclaw couple.

"Narcissus Black and Rabastan Lestrange!" Narcissus, a fair, fragile blond Slytherin girl who was engaged to Lucius Malfoy, several years her senior, cast a frightened look at Rabastan, who smirked at her.

Lea saw the scared look on the Slytherin girl's face and for a moment felt sympathy for her. Their eyes met fleetingly, blue on blue and for brief minute, they understood each other. But then Narcissa turned away and tossed back her hair and the spell was broken.

Emotionlessly, Lea turned her attention to the names being called out.

Ten minutes later and she nor none of her mates had been announced. Several other Gryffindor couples had been announced.

"Marlene McKinnion and Remus Lupin!" Crestfallen Marlene gave Benjy, who was a Ravenclaw, a weak smile and then turned towards Remus who had paled in comparison.

She had noticed this and frowned. What, did he not like her?

Which in fact, was totally the opposite. Remus was head over heels over her. But since she had a boyfriend, he never did anything about it. He wasn't Sirius. And now, he was her dancing partner!

Seeing her frown at him jolted him out of his thoughts. He gave her a small smile, but it reached his eyes and Marlene felt slightly better when she saw the sincerity behind them. He gestured for her to go before him and she smiled a bit at his old fashioned manners.

Lea and Lily exchanged merry looks with each other and hoped, that maybe something good would come out of that pairing. However all traces of merriment were wiped off their faces when they heard their names called.

"Lily Evans and James Potter!" Yeap. The universe officially hated her.

"Lea de Tourval and Sirius Black!"

"Oh no," Lily groaned slapping her forehead.

"Oh man!" James exclaimed ecstatic.

"Oh boy," Lea said flatly.

"Oh god," Sirius clapped his hands over his face.

Ten minutes later, the thirty odd some couples were assembled across the Great Hall. Professor Longstreet had allowed them five minutes of chatting, so as to ease the tension and "get to know each other" for those who weren't familiar with their partners, which was a joke since they were all in house couples.

Lea stared at Sirius with a frown on her face. Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at her.

It wasn't as if she hated him. They were mates. More or less. Kind of. When she wasn't busy studying, tinkering on new spells, going out with boys here and there or smoking ganja behind the old greenhouses with the other stoners of the school.

No, she didn't hate him. She just didn't fawn over him like every other idiotic girl in the school. Even Lily grudgingly admitted that Sirius was hot. He was cocky, arrogant and used to getting what he wanted, effortlessly. And that bothered her.

A lot.

So in turn, she didn't really like him. But found him in the circle of mates she had anyway. Probably because of Remus.

Remus was really the glue that held the group together. Smart, handsome and shy, he was a brilliant study partner for Lily and Lea. So when, in their third year when Sirius came asking for Remus's help in Charms, he had directed him to Lea who was better.

Lea found herself helping Sirius master the laughing charm. For two straight hours they had practiced and it finally ended in both of them laughing their heads off as he had mastered it and then Sirius had the nerve to kiss her.

The kiss was the first and last kiss to date Lea had ever had from him. Furious, she had punched him in the nose and in turn, broken it sending him to the hospital wing. And thus setting the tone for their topsy turvy relationship they had over the years.

Various mishaps in group projects, late night study sessions, the occasional Quidditch practices that she attended when she dated Fabian Prewett and other things had cemented their tolerance for each other which was always laced with undertones of mild appreciation for each other.

They challenged each other, competed for the best marks, riled each other up, and though she would never admit, they were good for each other in some ways. She was sure of that, mostly likely in the academic context, but perhaps in just the general, universal, karma context as well.

Taking all of this into consideration, she rubbed her neck and finally said, "Look Sirius, don't put your hands in any funny places and I'm sure we'll be fine. Let's just…make the best of this thing ok?"

Sirius snorted and then raked a hand through his locks. "Funny places. Define funny places Lea,"

"My breasts, my butt, my inner thighs and my vagina." She listed in a matter of fact tone. She took extra precautions when it came to him, knowing Sirius Black and the typical teenage boys wandering hands and hormones, his hands could wander _anywhere._

Rather be safe than sorry and list all untouchable areas right from the bat, Lea grimly thought.

Unconsciously his grey eyes wandered over said funny places and a grin spread across his face slowly as his eyes took in each place. Lea narrowed her eyes and gave him a sharp slap on the back of his head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"For looking at said places! C'mon Sirius, don't be difficult. This might actually be…entertaining, if not an experience to remember."

The determined look on her face said that she clearly wanted to avoid tension and confrontation. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fine. No funny places will be looked at or touched. Scout's honour." He held up two fingers.

A small smile appeared on her face and he found himself smiling back. A real smile.

Maybe she was right, it might be an experience to remember.

Professor Longstreet clapped his hands and the chattering died down. "Ok everyone. Now tonight, we'll just go over what we will be covering in the next eight weeks and go into some stretching and warm up routines."

So first off, practices will be on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Each session will last an hour and half.

Lily's eyes nearly rolled out of her head. An hour of half of studying would be gone thanks to these ridiculous dancing lessons! She was surely going to fail her winter exams.

"We will be learning to dance the Jive, the Tango, the Salsa, the Quickstep, the Paso Doble and the Viennese Waltz.

These dances are not easy. They are hard, they are technically tough and you will find yourself frustrated. But once you learn the moves and get into the groove, you'll might find yourselves enjoying them.

"You will come in proper attire. I don't expect you to come and learn dancing in these ridiculous robes we wear. Gentleman, that means t shirts, sweatpants or other loose trousers or what you wear for working out.

Ladies, modest tank tops, t-shirts, leggings, leg warmers or other dance appropriate skirts paired with leggings. Nothing skimpy or plunging please.

As for footwear, we will first practice basic trainers and then move on to dance shoes. Eventually ladies will be practicing in heels.

Lea raised an eyebrow. Guys get dance shoes and girls get stuck with heels later on? Not fair.

As if he could almost read her mind, Professor Longstreet raised his voice, "And no Lea, this is not me being sexist, this is just how dance is, plus with some of the dances and the clothes you'll be wearing, heels might be beneficial." He grinned at her and Lea bit back a smile of her own.

Sirius felt a fleeting stab of animosity towards his professor and then it disappeared.

"With that being said I want everyone to spread out and stay close to your partners. We're going to begin stretching and then go into some basic dance moves, spread out!"

They quickly spread them across the floor and took off their robes. The announcement said to come in comfortable clothes, no skirts or dresses and Lea was very grateful for that.

They commenced with some basic breathing exercises and then moved into stretches. As Lea bent forward to reach her feet, she could hear some exclamations of pain from others.

She herself felt a familiar ache but then it felt good as she flexed her feet and pressed her face into her thighs.

Sirius looked at her, mildly impressed. "Where'd you get that kind of flexibility Lea? You don't play any sport."

Having being on the Quidditch team, Sirius and many other of the boys were finding this easy. But he didn't expect her to do these stretches so easily, and so well.

"Sirius, I've grown up in a family with five brothers who are in the Wizarding Armed Forces and my parents were part of the Resistance during the the War. It's kind of mandatory to be athletic, or capable of being athletic in my house, remember?"

He did. He briefly recalled overhearing Lea telling Lily about her family when asked. She didn't talk about them very much. She was quite a secretive person.

"So… do you work out?"

"I run. I lift some weights when I can."

The time for talking was cut because soon Professor Longstreet ushered them into their first dance lesson.

In the remaining 45 minutes, they found themselves learning the basic box step, grapevine-ing to the right and left, learning how to pivot, pirouette and turn.

At the end, Sirius wiped the sweat off his brow with his t shirt exposing some of his toned olive skinned stomach. A fact that didn't go unmissed by many girls.

Dorcas eyed him appreciatively and gave Lea the stink eye. Unperturbed, Lea waggled her eyebrows and gave her fake grin. The other girl turned her attention elsewhere and the grin melted off lea's face as quickly as it had come.

"Okayyyyy…I didn't expect this to be so…"

"Exhausting?"

"Hard was the word I was going for, but thanks for trying to preserve my masculinity."

"Sure, any time."

At nine thirty Professor Longstreet called it a night and Lea turned to Sirius. "Ok…so we have 8 weeks of practice, three days of week…so that makes 24 practices, and this was the first once, so…"

"23 left to go." He chuckled.

"Yeah. Anyway. It shouldn't be that bad. I'll most likely see you later on in the Common Room."

"Yeap." With that she gave him what he privately called her "Mona Lisa" smile and left to go find Lily.

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_A/N: Please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)_


	3. The Jive Ain't My Vibe

_A/N: Thanks for your reviews and feedback. And now we have our first dance inspired by DWTS (That show is addicting). Enjoy!_

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_"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance_"

The weekend passed by without any major incidents (minus the standard chaos the Marauders usually caused) but no one was sent to the Hospital Wing this time.

Lea and Lily were hunched over their books in the library on Monday afternoon unbeknownst to them that the four golden boys of Hogwarts (well three golden boys and a tag a long) were sitting a few tables away and deep in the middle of what they deemed a serious conversation.

"So…you finally get her," Sirius commented quietly as he sat back in his chair.

"Yeap. Kind of. More or less." James looked at said girl with thoughtful eyes.

"Yeah right. C'mon Prongs, she barely even looks at you otherwise." Remus snorted. He looked at his friend with a flat expression.

"Not true! She's….amicable enough when we're doing our Head Boy and Head Girl duties."

Peter rolled his eyes and tried to focus on the essay topic before him. "_Describe the Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Non Verbal Spells in Direct Combat_." Professor Longstreet always gave the toughest essay assignments in DADA. He shook his head. Maybe he could copy off Remus later on.

"You mean she tolerates you." Sirius gave his mate a pointed look.

"No! One time we were patrolling the corridors after hours and we caught this one fifth year couple snogging out in the open and instead of offering my usual sarcastic, witty comment I was an adult and everything and reprimanded them. Maturely!"

"Really? And?" Remus asked dryly.

"And she _smiled _at me!"

Sirius gasped and clutched his hands together. "She smiled at you? Really? How many times?"

James slapped him three stooges style. "Shaddup. It's progress."

"Uh no offense, but she didn't look exactly thrilled to be your dance partner." Peter butted in.

He was met with a glare and he shrank back. "The point is, she doesn't want me to curl up and die, like she did last year." James announced.

"Yeah big deal." His best friend waved a dismissive hand.

"Ok Mr. I'm-Awesome, how does it feel like to be paired up with the girl who broke your nose?" James taunted. Remus and Peter sniggered. Sirius furrowed his eyebrows.

"Hey, at least she likes me!"

James sputtered. "PA HA!" Even Remus looked at him incredulously. "Get real Padfoot. Lea fancies you as much as she fancies spiders buttered into her toast."

He fell quiet for a long time. This troubled him. The very idea that a girl, could not like him, was well, absurd. Every girl liked him. Or at least most of them did. And those who didn't, never really told it to his face! Normally this wouldn't trouble him. He'd usually go to said girl and charm the skirts off her, take her out on a date to Hogsmeade, may or may not snog her and then usually, they'd be good.

At least, that's what he did with the small 1% of the school's female population who did happen to air their dislike for him. And that 1% had now turned to 0.5%.

For some reason though, it bothered him that Lea didn't like him. He had always thought they were mates…more or less. In a strange way at least. He always thought her cool attitude towards him was just her personality. She was very enigmatic towards everyone and he automatically assumed that was just her nature.

He must have been quiet for a long time because James waved a hand in front of him. "Uhhh, earth to Padfoot? Padfoot do you read me?"

"Yeah. I'm still here."

Remus gave him a sympathetic look. "Look mate, it's not your fault. I think. This in fact, may be a good thing. You need to be taken a notch or two."

"What?"

Peter nodded. "He's right. Even Prongs here has deflated his head a bit. I mean, c'mon, Lily smiles at him for Merlin's sake."

"You, my friend, have been served."

"This is impossible. And I Sirius, Black, will conquer the impossible." He hotly declared.

"And how, pray do tell me, plan to conquer the impossible? Rappel down the girl's tower, break into her room and ravish her until she falls in love you?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"Hey, I only did that once. And Hestia fully agreed that it was a good move. She was impressed!"

"Yeah and when you told this James who was with Lily and Lea at the time, Lea looked at you as if you were the most pathetic thing on earth."

"Well, I'll get her to like me then!"

"What, you'll put the imperious curse on her?"

"Course not. I'll do something…I'm just not sure yet."

James looked at him with utter disbelief. "Face it Padfoot. This time, you don't get the girl, and that's that. Never in the last six years has she ever shown any interest to you."

"No. The story is far from over. It's just beginning. And it's not like I like her. I just need to make her like me. Or at least not hate me."

His mates looked at him. He looked at them back with a determined, cocky expression on his face. Sirius always got what he wanted. Sooner or later.

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Monday night the thirty couples once again assembled in the Great Hall and spread out. Professor Longstreet started the lesson right on time and had them stretching as soon as they had entered.

Lea took a deep breath and bent down to touch her feet. She felt a slap on her behind and sprung upright, murder on her face until she saw Lily laughing at her.

"Lily!"

"Couldn't resist, with your butt lookin all cute in your leggings." She giggled and then sat next to her and went into a pike stretch.

"Ha ha ha," was her response. Lea rolled her shoulders and then felt a pair of arms and the pure scent of a male encase her. She stiffened.

"Evening partner," Sirius grinned, his breath tickling her neck.

"Get off me!" she scowled. Biting back a chuckle, Sirius stepped away and swung his arms around, loosening his muscles and tossed her a cocky smile. She narrowed her eyes and then slapped him.

"Ow!"

"Oh by the way, along with no wandering hands rule, there is also the rule of **NO UNNECESSARY TOUCHING.**"

"Fine. Fine Fine. Have it your way. Loosen up a little bit Tourval."

"de Tourval," she automatically corrected him.

"Fine. Loosen up. We're going to be dancing, and stretching and all that. And some dances as I've heard, are downright…sensual…sinful in a way. Like the salsa.

Or the Viennese waltz or the tango. Which I think, is a dance of passion, and hate. And if performed to their potential, there's a lot of skin on skin," Sirius said with relish.

Lea's bright blue eyes darkened with anger. He was insufferable. Truly.

But before she could give him a piece of her mind, Professor Longstreet clapped his hands and a silence fell over them.

"All right students. Tonight we're going to learn the Jive.

Now the Jive is an American Dance which is derived from the Jitterbug. It's a looser, less inhibited version of it. It's a swing dance.

It has a six beat pattern, and the male leads the dance, while the female mirrors his moves.

Tonight myself and Josie and Tomas will demonstrate the dance to you and then teach you the basic steps."

With that two new people gracefully emerged from the opposite entrance. Both were tall, lean and had dancer's build. These must be the professional dancers to instruct them, Lea thought. Josie, the woman was young, and as she and every boy could suddenly see, highly attractive. She flashed Professor Longstreet a smile.

He in turn started the gramophone and a bouncy, jazzy number filled the hall. Josie and Tomas took their places and suddenly she moved her hips to the left and the right and Tomas stuck out his right foot twice and then switched his weight to the left.

They chasses to the left and to the left, Josie arched and flashed her leg up in front of her in performing a nearly vertical split. They bopped up and down on feet back and forth and Jose shook her chest foreword and back, looking perfectly beautiful and sexy at the same time.

At the end of the number, the students looked stunned. Lea exchanged a look with Lily and Lily just looked back at her wide –eye. There was no way they could dance like that.

"And so! That's the jive. And now I know that looked nearly impossible to do, but I don't expect you to dance like that. Josie and Tomas are professionals. But hopefully this gives you something to aspire to. Dancing is a sport and art rolled into one."

"This guy is must have ingested a magic mushroom or something," Sirius muttered. Lea elbowed him in the rib.

"Yes. As your professor said, we don't expect you to dance like us. But the jive is actually one of the easier ballroom dances and is quite fun." Josie affirmed.

"Now, I want everyone one to follow Tomas and I. Professor…,"

"Longstreet," he finished for her. She smiled again and then continued, "Longstreet will explain the basic steps and then I want all of you to follow us."

Obediently they spread out and watched as the pair demonstrated the steps. They both moved to the left taking three steps and then to the right with three steps. Then they rocked back and forth with their left and right foot.

"Now, the technical terms here are chasses and the rock step. You chasse to the left in three steps, and then chasse to the right. Then you do a rock step, left foot back and right foot front." Longstreet explained as Josie and Tomas did the steps again, slower this time.

"Now it's your turn!" Tomas announced. With a feeling of trepidation running through everyone's bodies, they hesitantly moved to the left and then to the right. Before they got to the rock step part though, Josie cut in.

"Um…are you guys sick?"

They shook their heads. "Are you guys dead or something? C'mon! This is a quick dance! Dancing is fun! Give some life into these moves!" she exclaimed.

The group tried again, a little faster this time. But not quick enough apparently.

"More. Let go of yourselves and move. Get grooving babies." Josie urged them impatient.

Lea rolled her head back and then chassed quickly to the left and then to the right, frustrated. Why did her fellow classmates have to make this harder. Sirius followed her lead and they slid smoothly to the left and right again.

"Yes! That's more like it. Give it some!" Josie pointed out triumphantly to them. Lily and James eyed them and then followed in their fashion.

Truth be told Lea moved quickly because she was just as impatient and Sirius had followed her just because he didn't want to be outdone.

Ten minutes later the entire group was moving more freely to the left and the right and had progressed to performing the rock step. That's when they ran into some problems.

Lily accidentally knocked into James as she had started off with the wrong foot. "Crap! Sorry." She apologized and flushed. James waved it off and tried to mirror her steps again but they were off sync. They weren't the only ones. Many other couples were confused with the mirroring of each other and what foot they started off with.

Sirius was doing his best to keep up with Lea's energy as she rocked back and forth and then did an impromptu spin. He spun too, only to loose his balance and fall on the ground thud. She bit back a laugh.

"Don't say a word." He growled as he got up. Little Miss Show Off.

"Oh c'mon Sirius. It's just a little spin." She spun again, but spun three times in succession. Sirius raised his eyebrows and tried it himself but failed.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" she shrugged, not answering. She spun again and put her arms above her head. "Just move mate. Move your body."

"I could think of better ways to move my body," he retorted. "Ways that I'm sure would pleasure both me and you!"

She glared at him and kicked him in the shin. Yelping, Sirius jumped back from her. "Bloody hell woman what was that for?"

"For being an arse!"

"You're being a show off!"

"I'm trying to make the best of sucky situation!"

"Well it's not like I asked to be your bloody partner!"

"Yeah well I'm not exactly thrilled to be with you either, Mr. I'm- Merlin's- Gift- to Women!"

"You're not exactly the most amicable person to be around with too ya know!"

"Nor are you! God, just shut up and stop putting a damper on everything!"

"Is there a problem here?" A cheery voice asked. It was Josie who had been observing the couple.

"No." they answered in unison. Lea still had daggers in her eyes and Sirius looked thunderous.

"Good. Now I was watching you two and I think you're doing pretty well so far. But you need to put some more affection into the dance. The jive is a happy, playful dance."

"Yeah well what can I say ma'am? Jiving with this one just ain't my vibe." Sirius replied throwing Lea a dirty look. She merely rolled her eyes.

"Well you better make it. You two show some potential so I suggest that you put your differences aside and concentrate on dancing."

Lea huffed and crossed her arms. Sirius shook his head. "Yeah all right."

"Good. Continue. The spin was a nice touch."

Lea stuck her tongue out at him and Sirius moved to grab her but she slid to the left quickly and out of his reach

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_A/N: Please review! They mean so much to us writers. :)_


	4. Conversations

_A/N: Thank you to all of those who have reviewed, favourited or put this on their story alert! It pleases me so much and I hope you enjoy the next installment._

_P.S. There's a "Friends" reference thrown in there. ;)  
_

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_"Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally dealing with men"_

-Joseph Conrad

For the next hour they practiced the basic steps, progressing to performing them on the right counts and then finally to music. When the music started playing that when things really went to pot. People were bumping into each other all over the place because they were on the wrong foot and Lily had accidently stepped on James' feet more times than she care too. She was so embarrassed. Surprisingly, he didn't tease her about him. Instead he reassured he that he'd be fine and laughed it off.

"I swear, I'll be better next time," Lily apologized for the last time. She ran her hand through her messy ponytail. He grinned.

"Don't sweat about it. No one said it'd be easy Lily."

"I know. But I'm just used to…" she stopped herself not wanting to sound conceited.

"Being the best at everything?" he finished for her. His hazel eyes were alight with merriment.

"Yeah."

"S'ok. We all have our strength and weaknesses. I'm not such good at this kind thing either. I thought I would be, cos of Quidditch and everything but apparently not." He said easily.

"And you accept that? So easily?" she was amazing. She had a tough time accepting herself for not being good at things. That was her thing, to be good at stuff. And to see Lea picking up so quickly had made her feel anxious.

"Well yeah. I mean, we all have things we rule at, and things we don't. If we were good at everything, what fun would it be to learn stuff? What's more important is to learn to accept ourselves for what we are, flaws and all. I mean, people are made to be imperfect. It's in God's law."

Lily just stared at him. "What?" he asked embarrassed.

"Ok don't be offended but I didn't think you had this much…depth to you."

James pushed his glasses up his nose and shook his head good-naturedly. "Nah, it's ok. I know a lot of people think I'm just this typical Quidditch obsessed jock who surfs through schoolwork and blahblahblah. It's fine really."

Impressed with his candidness, Lily found a part of her softening for him. Little did she know that part of her would never be able to harden towards him again.

"Wow. Sometimes you really surprise me James."

"I hope that's a compliment!"

"It is," Lily smiled at him and his mouth curved up. For a moment they looked at each other and then it was broken by Lea swinging an arm around her mate.

"Eww get off me you dirty girl."

"You love it when I'm all dirty," Lea replied off handedly. Sirius who had joined them raised his eyebrows at the mental image and then James nudged him.

"You're all sweaty and gross."

"A sign of a good night's work."

"You looked like you got the hang of things fast,"

"Kind of. You just move to the left, to the right and then rock back forth. That's the easy part."

"There's more?"

"I'm sure. I mean, dancing is also about improvisation and such. I'm pretty sure they're going to make us learn some tricks and such to add to the basic gist of it. Otherwise why would they make us go through eight weeks of dancing?"

"Oh Merlin."

"It'll get easier. Just keep practicing. Dancing is like magic. The more you practice, the better you'll get."

"Sure. Says you."

"Relax Lily. Even we need to get our head out of the books more often than not."

"Speaking of which, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend. We can look at dresses for the Winter formal."

Lea groaned. She hated dress shopping. "Wow conversation transitioning is definitely not one of your strong points. And I hate dress shopping."

"Exactly. The sooner you get it the faster it'll be over and you'll have more choices."

"Screw it Lils. They'll be other hogsmeade trips for dress shopping. Besides, what if I have a date next weekend?"

Lily snorted. "You won't. You haven't gone out with anyone since the Halloween Ball."

"Which was two weeks ago!"

"You didn't even really attend the ball with said date. You were so busy dancing with other guys!"

"Well this is why I prefer going stag to dances. I don't like feeling obligated to someone."

"Yes, and I'm sure Caradoc was very pleased with you at the end of the ball."

"I made it up to him afterwards,"

"Yeah I'm sure you did," Lily muttered. The group had reached the Fat Lady and she said loudly "Devil's Snare" which allowed them to get in.

"Well Lily, since when was the last time you had a date or a boyfriend for that matter?" Lea challenged.

"…I don't know. I think my last fling was during the summer. Some boy in my neighborhood." Lily admitted sheepishly.

"Exactly. So don't get on my case. And I choose not to have boyfriends for that matter." Lea replied confidently.

"Oh yeah, why's that?" James asked interestedly.

"I'm selfish." She replied in a matter of fact voice. " The very idea of having to reconstruct your day to fold in another person into your life or be obligated to do stuff…is just not my thing. I want to do things with my life."

James looked at her confused. Lily explained, "She wants to be a Healer. It's her ticket into the Wizarding Armed Forces since they don't allow females to serve as soldiers yet."

"Why would you want to go into the Army?" Sirius asked wrinkling his nose.

"To travel the world, to do something for my country, to save lives. I don't know. I just want to be apart of something."

"That being said, you don't do boyfriends right?" James said giving Sirius a sideways glance. He scowled at him.

"Yeah. I'm a serial dater. Nothing exclusive."

"Man Fabian really messed you up," Lily said absently. Lea shot her a look. "He didn't mess me up. He just proved to me that serious relationships aren't really my thing at the moment."

"No, you do other things instead." Lily muttered as she started for the staircase leading up to their dorm. Lea tossed her head at that comment and followed her.

Sirius and James were left slightly stunned at that parting piece of information. Silence fell over the pair.

James cleared his throat. "Huh. I wonder what other things she does."

"You and me both mate. You and me both." Sirius replied still staring after the staircase.

* * *

The week passed by alarming fast for both respected parties. Sirius found himself downright exhausted on Friday morning. In addition to the mandatory dance lessons he now had to attend, he still had Qudditch practice three times a week as well. Wednesday had kicked his butt to the moon and back because he had practice right after his last lesson which had ended at 7 and then dance lessons at 8. Needless to say he went straight to bed after the lessons, saying homework could suck it.

Friday morning he ambled down the stairs towards the Great Hall wincing slightly at the soreness of his body. James had been pushing them wicked hard at practice for the upcoming match against Hufflepuff. Usually the Hufflepuffs were jokes on the field, but for the last two years, they had surprisingly scrounged up a very good team. And James wanted to win the Cup this year since it was their last year.

Do or die, he had said. This year, we do it, or we die trying to do it. Losing is not an option.

Truth be told, Sirius would rather be dead right about now. It seemed like every part of his body was screaming at him for doing too much exercise.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" He gritted his teeth as his eased onto the bench.

Remus raised his eyebrows and bit into his toast. "What's got your knickers in a twist Padfoot?"

"Practice and dance lessons. I swear to God, I feel like James ought to have German subtitles under him. The way he's pushing us…."

"You want to win don't you?" an indignant voice asked.

"Well if isn't il duce himself…" Sirius dryly commented. He glared at James.

"This year the Cup is ours. And I'll break every bone in your body if I have to in order to get it!"

"You and your Quidditch. You're such a fanatic for Merlin's sake." Remus muttered irritated.

"It's the greatest sport in the world!"

"Oh God, please don't tell me we're hearing this argument for the one hundredth time?" a voice groaned.

Lily appeared with Lea closely behind. Both girls flashed Remus a smile and took a seat next to him. Feeling his mood uplifted he returned their pleasantries. James huffed in annoyance and took a seat.

"So what got this argument nearly started again?" she asked helping herself to some tea. Lea in turn had started peeling an orange and James passed her a plateful of scrambled eggs.

"Sirius here was complaining about a little soreness cos of practice." He snorted.

"A little soreness? Mate, I'm so sore that I can't move without feeling like I'm on fire!" Sirius protested indignantly.

"So why don't you get a massage? I'm sure one of your very loyal fanclub girls would be more than happy to give you one," Lily pointed out in a dry voice.

James and Remus chortled at this and Sirius glared at her. "What? I'm serious. Massages do wonders!"

"Oh yeah how would you know?"

"One time Lea convinced me to go on a run with her and I barely made 3 kilometers before falling to the ground. I was so sore the next day that I could hardly move. She gave me a massage my god it was amazing."

Remus raised his eyebrows and James had a hard time shaking the mental image of Lea massaging a nearly naked Lily out of his head. Lily appeared to have read his mind. "Oh get your mind out of the gutter. I was fully clothed."

Slightly crestfallen James returned to his breakfast. She shook her head in disbelief. Sirius turned his gaze on Lea who had so far remained silent in the entire exchange. He grinned wolfishly at her. "So you wanna be nice and massage me?"

One carefully plucked eyebrow rose. "I wouldn't massage you even if my life depended on it," she replied coolly.

His mates stifled laughs. The Great Sirius Black being shot down. Again.

"A nice hot bath works well too," Lily pointed out unnecessarily.

An entertaining image of Lea and him in a bath caused Sirius to brush off her recent statement. "Ok so join me in a hot bath. I'll be nice. I promise. I'll even wash your hair for you."

This proposition was met with a glassful of orange juice being thrown in Sirius's face.

Sputtering, he swiped at his hair plastered to his face. "Goddamnit Lea!"

Laughing, Lily passed him a handful of napkins. Lea tossed him a withering stare that said more than any insult would. She got up and stomped off.

"Mate. Just give it up. Your "usual" charm isn't going to work on the chick." James shook his head.

"There's something wrong with her!"

"No, there's something very wrong with you. Girls aren't make out playthings Sirius," Remus reprimanded him. "Not all girls are into that kind of sexual innuendo being thrown at the all the time."

"What is she, a NUN? She's seventeen years old for Chrissake!"

"Yeah well not all seventeen years olds are as horny as you!"

"Correction, no one is horny as him," James chimed in.

"Then she's not normal!"

Peter rolled his eyes. "C'mon Padfoot. It just galls your male ego that for once, a girl doesn't like you, or see's you as a snogging partner. And that bothers you a lot because you can't take advice or rejection well."

The group looked at him. Sometimes they forgot he was there. He seemed to have notice this because he huffed in annoyance. "Yes, I am still here. I may not be as intelligent, or as popular or as even good looking as you guys, but hey guess what? I do actually say something worthy of consideration!"

Lily appraised him with keen eyes. She made a mental note not to ignore him as much as she did again.

Something Peter said struck a nerve in Sirius's head. He was right. He didn't handle rejection, or advice very well. He was used to getting what he wanted, with minimal effort, usually depending on his charm, wit or in some cases, his looks. Very rarely did he actually try for something.

"Then she's cracked. She's not normal," he said petulantly.

"Oh believe me, she's normal, she definitely gets around," Lily snorted without thinking.

The boys looked at her with surprised faces. "Crap. Um…is there any chance that you did not hear that?"

"Whaddya mean "she gets around"?" Sirius asked hotly.

"Nothing. But let me tell you something, Lea is just as hormonal as anyone of us and she's…very comfortable with guys." Lily said delicately.

"Care to translate that?" James cocked a brow at her.

"She's…just more discreet with her affairs than most of us here. She's subtle in her approach to blokes. And that attracts them."

Unaware that she was blabbing on her best friend about her various seduction techniques, Lily continued. "She's very focused on what she wants mates. Always has been and cuts off distractions easily. But man, when she's on…" she shook her head.

The Sirius and James sat in their seats contemplating this new information. They knew she was a very determined girl. It was evident in the amount of studying she did. Sirius was a bit put out at this new revelation. So she really just must not like him then, he thought grimly.

"How do you know all of this?" James asked curious. She shrugged. "I spent a couple of summers with her. She's really into music and we'd go to a lot of punk shows and raves. We'd go out to some clubs and she just flips a switch within her and BAM! Blokes didn't know what to say to her."

"Wait a minute, you like punk?" James asked disbelief. Lily shook her head. "It's fairly new. Just started a couple years back in 1972, 73. I think it's ok. Lea loves it though. She goes all out crowd surfing, moshing in combat boots."

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of lessons and they got up. Remus and Lily chatted about their latest Transfiguration assignment while Peter and James charmed the various busts that littered the staircases to have different facial expressions. All in a day's work you know.

Sirius trailed behind in them lost in his own thoughts. So she dated and liked punk. This new information just fueled his desire to get her to crack and admit to like him. Sooner or later that chick was going down.

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A/N: Please review! :)


	5. Crashing Through The Air

_A/N: I wasn't planning on updating so soon, but **PirateLuv32'**s message was too funny in regards to updating so I decided to post another installment. Thank you to **PirateLuv32, Nizuna Fujieda, Georgia, Aaehliblack** and **watchTHEclouds** for reviewing and thank you to each and every one of you who have put this on their story alert or favourited this story. It means a lot to me. Read, enjoy and review! Happy Holidays._

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_"Dancing is the art of getting your feet out of the way faster than your partner can step on them."_

Lea marched straight into the Great Hall for the Friday evening dance lessons. The day had been long and she had a ton of homework. Not to mention Lily wanted to start studying for their practice NEWT exams they were to take right before Winter Break.

She set her jaw and ignored Sirius who was already there. Lily and James gave him a look and he rolled his eyes. She hadn't spoken to him all day since the morning incident.

They stretched and warmed up for ten minutes. Professor Longstreet, Josie and Tomas led them into dancing a basic jive with music. They had improved a bit since Wednesday's practice. At least the majority of the couples could rock step back and forth and to the side with the correct foot going first.

After dancing or so for ten minutes, Professor Longstreet held out his hand. They stopped and watched him warily.

"All right. So now that we've got the basic jive moves down, tonight we're going to focus on adding additional moves. Embellishments, tricks if you will." He said with a grin.

"I thought we learned all that we needed to know for the jive?" Carly, a Ravenclaw, asked in a confused voice.

"Ah yes. We taught you the basic stuff. We baked a cake if you will. But wouldn't you rather have a cake with frosting? A cake with sugar flowers, candles and a fizzler?" Josie asked.

"Yeah, if I want to have a heart attack," Lea said under her breath. Sirius bit back a grin.

The group looked at her as she had lost it. "We're going to ice the cake if you will. Dance is about passion, improvisation dedication and committing to the moment. And most of all, dance is about having fun."

Lily studied the woman addressing them. In a way she was right. It was only their attitudes that stopped them from truly taking something away from this experience. She vowed to open up her mind more.

"With that being said, tonight I want all the girls to come with me in a group, Tomas will take the boys to the other side. Now, tonight, these moves aren't just limited to the Jive, these can be used in any dance. Tonight we're learning passion and attitude."

Lea and Lily looked at each other. "I thought we already had enough of that?"

"Yeah well you certainly have enough towards James."

"Shaddup."

The group separated and the girls found themselves spread out looking at Josie expectantly.

Smiling at them she scanned the crowd. "All right. Spread your feet a bit. Loosen up."

"Now, swing your hips to the left and to the right. Keep going. Just keep swinging."

Marlene who stood next to Lily slid a sideways glance at her. She was glad to see her roommate looking as nervous as she was.

"Swing your hips more, you are sensual, confident young ladies. You are not afraid of anything!" Josie cried.

The girls swung their hips more and let go a little more. More relaxed they moved into swinging their hips in a circle, following their instructor.

"Okay. Now go back to moving to the side. This time you're going to shake one, two, three, and then on three, cross your left foot over your right and then turn around sharply." She demonstrated.

Lea mentally counted and then executed a sharp turn, ending up in her starting position more or less. Lily on the other hand had fallen over.

"Ugh this is harder than I thought," Marlene lent her a hand and she rose to her feet.

"Practice makes perfect, now give it another go, just don't put so much momentum in the spin," Josie encouraged her. Lily tried again and remained upright this time.

"There ya go! Now let's try it with our right foot crossing our left."

The girls did so and soon found themselves favouring one foot over the other. Josie explained to them that we all have a "lead" leg, one leg that we favour more than the other. This leg is one we usually start walking with, turning with etc, etc. But, she stressed that it's important to practice moves with both legs so as to remain balanced and capable of mirroring their partners.

"Okay. Now, let's all take three steps forward. But we are not strolling through the park ladies, we are strutting down the catwalk. I want some attitude. Watch and be fierce!" she commanded.

She strode towards them shaking her hips to the side and then crossed her left foot over her right and turned sharply. She repeated the move and turned in a full circle this time, facing them again.

"This a good way to enter a dance, or break out in a solo move. In a tango, you can use this move to walk away from your partner, who usually follows you and then you can pretend to slap him for effect."

Lea imagined herself doing this to Sirius, except in her mind she actually slapped him. She smirked at this image.

The girls moved forward as instructed and turned. The more they practiced it, the more confident they became and swung their hips more and turned with increased flourish.

As the practice went on, Josie taught them how to shimmy properly, without looking tacky or vulgar, performing a split or a half split in a move, arabesque hand moves and corrected them on their lines when dancing. They learned how to express themselves and various moves with different hand gestures and how to move their upper body in different manners to convey various emotions.

Repeatedly Josie told them that dancing is about being passionate and confident, but not vulgar. The moves they learned tonight could easily be turned into something dirty but Josie showed them the fine line between being sensual and tacky.

Meanwhile, Tomas had been making the boys go through various drills, sliding across the floor, spinning properly and different ways of lifting a person. He made them practice on each other because as he told them, if they could lift guys up, they wouldn't have much trouble lifting girls up.

This they found out was true. It was exceedingly difficult to lift each other up!

"Holy mother of God Prongs, how much do you weigh?" Sirius grunted as he lifted his mate up for a fleeting moment.

"Hey mate, it's all muscle! No fat!"

"Whatever. Let's try it again. Run at me and I'll lift you. I hope."

James backed up a bit and then charged towards Sirius and Sirius braced himself, James jumped and Sirius grabbed a hold of him for a moment, before falling backwards. They both hit the ground with a resounding thud that had their fellow classmates looking at them.

"Get of me! Get of me!" came Sirius's muffled voice. James picked himself off him and got up wincing. Sirius remained on the ground.

"Padfoot?"

"I'm all right! I'm okay. I just gotta lie here for a moment."

Remus chortled and then motioned for Peter to run at him. Peter looked at him doubtfully, sighed and then ran towards him. Remus caught him in the jump and held him a moment before setting him on his feet.

"Nicely done Mr. Lupin," Longstreet commented.

Sirius looked at him, mouth agape. "How'd you do that?"

He gave him a look that said "_duh, I'm a werewolf_,"

Sirius and James tried multiple times trying to lift and catch each other. After countless falls, drops and misses, they finally caught each other.

"That must have taken us…oh what, thirty tries?" James wheezed.

"I got to lift more weight,"

"Well the bright side is that Lily and Lea ought to be lighter than you two so this should easier." Peter pointed out reasonably.

They got a chance to test their theory ten minutes later. The instructors ordered the groups to merge back together and practice some of the new moves they had learned together.

Lea looked at Sirius for a moment after he had explained what they had learned. "I'm supposed to run at you, jump and you're going to catch me?" she asked disbelief lacing her voice.

"Pretty much yeah."

"Merlin's silky boxers," she muttered. "I swear to God, Sirius, if you drop me…"

"Just come at me," he said a little impatient. She sighed and then took a few steps back. Taking a deep breath she ran at him and jumped, surprisingly high and Sirius caught her, just barely. However the height that she had jumped with had so much momentum that even though he caught her, they both ended up crashing in a heap on the floor.

"Sirius!"

"You jumped really high! I wasn't prepared for that!"

"Ugh, up yours Black. Up yours."

A bit put out she rose to her feet and Sirius looked up at her. Her icy blue eyes cut through him like glass.

"I'm sorry. Let's try it again. I'll catch you properly. I promise."

Underneath the annoyance, Lea heard a brief note of sincerity. She looked at him, expression unreadable and then ran at him again. This time when she jumped, he caught her firmly, his hands sliding up, brushing the sides of breasts and held her there.

For a moment, they stared at each other, blue into grey and Sirius caught his breath. After a moment he gently set her down on her feet.

Lea stepped backwards from him. She had no idea what just happen but she did know she did not want that to happen again. Distance would be good now.

"Better?" he asked.

"Uh yeah. Much."

They practised their jive three more times, incorporating some of the struts and twirls they girls and boys had learned tonight.

Sirius had to admit that he was having a bit of fun. Lea was a good learner and picked up easily on the moves and she was creative in adding a twirl here or a shimmy there. When she shook her chest at him, leaning inwards and than outwards, Sirius smirked. He enjoyed moving with her or against her as they moved more or less in sync and holding her hand as she spun for the simple pleasure of simply feeling her body near his. Attraction and hormones had him enjoying it more than he should have.

When Lea strutted towards him at one point, Sirius admired the way her hips moved. He appreciated disappeared after she had twirled in a full circle and slapped him.

"Hey what was that for?"

"For dropping me earlier!"

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_A/N: Be nice and review please. :)_


	6. Emotions Amok

_A/N: Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, put this story on their alert or favourited it. It makes me so happy. And now for the next chapter. Read, enjoy and review! Happy holidays everyone. xoxoxo  
_

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_"There are two types of people - those who come into a room and say, 'Well, here I am!' and those who come in and say, "Ah, there you are.'"_

-Frederick L. Collins

On Saturday morning, Sirius made his way down to the Quidditch pitch yawning. It was 6:15 in the morning. Too far bloody early in the morning to be functioning in his opinion. He barely could string any coherent thoughts together.

Shivering slightly in the cool morning air Sirius dropped his broomstick on the dewy grass and stretched. He had come down a little earlier than James wanted them, but he liked having a bit of the school all to himself even for a little bit.

Or so he thought. Turns out he didn't really have the place to himself after all.

He squinted at the figure who was running around the Quidditch pitch. They were too far away for him to make out who it was. He frowned and prepared to kick someone's butt, something he did not want to do at 6:20 in the morning.

All thought of butt kicking went out of his head when he saw who was running.

Because of course, it was Lea.

Of course.

The ear wax flavour Bertie Bott bean of of the century.

"What are you doing out here?" he blurted out all cockiness abandoned.

She stopped and caught her breath. Tucking a loose curl behind her ear, she appraised him coolly. "Running,"

"At this time? Since when do you run?"

"I always run at this time. 5:15 is when I usually come out. I'm done here."

"You run for an hour?" Sirius was mildly impressed.

"More or less,"

"And how long have you been running for?"

"Dunno. Ever since I can remember really. What are you doing out here?"

"Quidditch practice,"

She made a noise of understanding. Taking a seat on the ground she stretched for a few minutes and Sirius observed her quietly.

He wasn't so much as observing her as he was checking her out. She was a fit girl, he suddenly realized. Short, slim and subtly muscled, Lea was in good shape.

"Do you play any sports?" he found himself asking. He wanted to talk to her, engage with her longer than a few sentences.

"I played a bit of football when I was younger, but not really. Sports aren't really my thing."

"But you run,"

"I think it's important to be fit and healthy. I want to go into the Wizarding Armed Forces and be a Healer, it'd be kind of dumb if I wasn't in a healthy condition. Plus I dunno, I like running, empties my head." Lena heard herself and shut up. She said too much.

"Yeah I'm sure your mind doesn't shut off with all the studying you do."

"I'm not always studying, I like to read a lot. Reading is fun."

Sirius looked down at her and she smiled wryly up at him. "Yes, I said it. Reading is fun. Ask Remus."

"But you could be doing so many other things!"

"Such as…"

Sirius was at a loss for a moment and then quickly answered. "Hanging out with people! Talking….uhhh,"

"Making out with people?" Lea retorted. It was common knowledge that when Sirius was bored he'd choose a random girl and make out with her of hour or two, just to entertain himself.

"Well if that's your cup of tea."

"Yeah no. Reading is more my thing. And moving your mouth is more of yours I suppose…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked a bit indignantly.

Lea just looked at him and he glared at her. "Nothing. Forget it. I don't know what I'm saying." She got up and started to move past him but he grabbed her arm.

"No, do enlighten me."

She looked down at her arm and he let go. "Fine. I just think you're a bit shallow. I mean, you know you're good looking, and yet you still seem so needy for attention."

"You think I'm good looking?"

"See! Just like that. And c'mon. You and I both you you're plenty handsome. Sometimes I think you're too pretty for your own good but that's just me."

"So you find me attractive?" Sirius couldn't help but feel a little pleased at the fact that she found him good looking.

"Am I blind? Yes I find you attractive, quite, actually, but that's doesn't mean I'm going to trip over myself trying to get your attention."

"Well why not!"

Lea laughed. "I don't need it. I don't really like you that much."

"You don't like me?" Sirius asked feeling a little bit hurt.

Lea paused for a moment. "Well…I don't like you, but I don't not like you. You don't really mean anything to me, you know? You're just this guy I know, you're just kind of there."

_You don't really mean anything to me._

Those words left Sirius devastated inside. He didn't know why, but this girl got under his skin and it bugged him.

Before he had a chance to say anything, James appeared from nowhere and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go Padfoot. We're gonna do a little scrimmage before I discuss tactics. Morning Lea," he added belatedly.

"Morning James. Have fun. Don't kill yourselves before the match." She answered before walking towards the locker room. Sirius watched her with flat eyes and shook his head.

"What's up mate?"

"Nothing James. Let's go."

* * *

Sirius remained uncharacteristically quiet during practice and throughout the day. Lea's words kept replaying over and over in his head and it grated him. It also puzzled him as to why he felt so hotly about her opinion of himself. For heaven's sake, she was just some chick.

Yeah, just some chick who happened to be immune to him. This was a first. And it was totally absurd.

But there was a small part of him that unconsciously liked her because she didn't put up with his bullshit. She was…so coolly confident and he liked that.

However, he still wanted to figure out why exactly he didn't mean anything to her. Sirius Black never meant _nothing_ to anyone. Well anyone under the age of eighteen. His family didn't really care too much for him.

But that wasn't the point. The point was this one chick had ruffled his feathers. And he intended to go and do something about that. He was going to be cool, calm and composed and confront the ice bitch herself.

Setting his mind, he got up from his bed where he had been lying on for the last hour and grabbed his broomstick. It was high time Miss Lea de Tourval got a house call from himself.

Lea shifted on her bed and turned another page of the book she was reading. No one else was in the dorm at the moment and she used these few times to play her music loud on the gramophone she and Lily shared.

Her music was playing so loud that she didn't hear Sirius enter the room, or him screaming at her until he poked her with his wand. She yelled and then reached for own wand ready to curse the first thing in site and then lowered it when she saw his face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked loudly over the music.

"WHAT?" he yelled.

Lea reached over to the side table and took the needle of the record. Silence filled the room. "I asked what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, I mean nothing to you?" he yelled at her throwing his arms up in the air. So much for being cool, calm and composed.

She stared at him and then remembered their earlier conversation. "Are you upset?"

"Hell yes I'm upset! No one likes to hear they mean nothing!"

"Ok, I don't mean nothing, nothing. I mean, you're obviously something. But…I dunno. You're not important to me. I know you exist and that's about it."

Sirius looked at her with unfathomable eyes. "I exist."

"Yes, you exist, I exist, you're someone I know and I'm someone you know. And that's as far as it goes for me mate."

"I thought we were friends,"

Lea gave a sarcastic laugh. "Ha. You and I are not friends."

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Pardon?"

"You don't even know me. And I sure as hell don't know you. We just happen to be in the same circle of friends."

"So let's get to know each other!"

She let out mirthless laugh. "Pa ha! You Sirius Black don't make it a point to know anyone. People come to know you. In the six years you've been here, you've yet to make friends with anyone except your roommates. You four are so wrapped up in your own five year old world of playing pranks and Quidditch you don't even bother acknowledging that others exist. Remus and I? Yes, we are friends. But you and I? Definitely not. You don't even have any girls who are friends!"

Sirius sputtered. "Of course I have girl friends!"

"No. You have snogging partners, dates, flings and a scarily loyal fan club. But friends who are girls? No."

Sirius felt the urge to strangle her. She was so infuriatingly annoying. He could kill her.

Lea gave him a smug look that said "I'm right." She leaned back on her palms and raised her eyebrows at him.

"I despise you." Sirius growled.

"Good. Let's keep it that way." And with that Lena turned on her music again and grabbed her book, once again ignoring him.

He let out a steam of curses under his breath and stomped flat footed out of the room shouldering his broom. For every ten girls that batted their eyelashes at him, there was always one girl who a great big pain in the ass. And she was it.

* * *

Needless to say Sirius' temper was still smouldering when they faced each other on Monday night's practice. She scowled at him and then turned towards Professor Longstreet promptly ignoring him. Arrogant prick.

Lily and James had noticed this and exchanged looks. "What's got his knickers in a twist?" she questioned.

"Oh you know, the usual, girl problems." He replied rubbing the back of his neck.

"Of course. The usual. I mean, what else could you blokes possibly worry about? Besides girls and Quidditch." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Actually there's quite a bit that gets our knickers in a twist. Grades. Girls. Looks. Family, money, other blokes. The future. Yadda yadda yadda." He waved his hand. Lily looked at him strangely.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just didn't think you were so…real."

"Yeah. I surprise people like that. I mean, once I deflate my head a bit I actually do come off as someone more tolerable."

"Well maybe you should deflate your head some more. You're pretty tolerable right now to me and I hate you." Lily said without thinking.

"Still hate me huh?" James pushed his glasses up his nose. Lily smiled at that mannerism. She found it endearing. Whoa. Where did that thought come from?

"Well…hate's a pretty strong word. You're…okay."

"Okay? Really?" James asked with disbelief. Hope lit up in his eyes. Hope that she might accept him as a person more capable of talking Quidditch and hexing people for fun. Hope that maybe, maybe one day in the faraway future, she might like him.

"Yeah. You're okay. Keep deflating your head some more and you maybe even fine." Lily laughed seeing his pleased expression.

They stepped closer to each other and started to warm up by practicing the Jive. James spun her out quickly, she swiveled her hips and spun around him appearing on his left side.

"You seem more confident in your steps," he observed. She smiled at him. "Thanks, Lea and I spent some of Sunday night just practicing for fun. She has this incredible music collection so it's always fun to put something on and dance to it."

"Well if you ever want to practice outside of our lessons, you know where to find me. I'm always up for getting better," he said.

"Really? I mean, I don't want to bother you."

"No! It would be fun. Besides, I never say 'no' to dancing with a pretty girl," James grinned.

To his surprise Lily returned his smile and accepted the subtle compliment. His insides erupted into doing the Conga and he mentally was jumping up and down at his small, but successful step forward into persuading her that he was more than what met the eye.

* * *

_A/N: please review!_


	7. Using A Thing Called A Brain

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited this story or put it on their alert. I really appreciate it. Enjoy, read and please review. Happy Holidays!_

* * *

_"Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer."_

Over the next two weeks the group learned the Tango and the Salsa. "Passionate, emotionally charged" dances as Josie said that came from Latin America. So far it had been the toughest dances they had learned yet.

For Lea and Sirius they were two dances that spelt disaster out in big capital letters. Sirius still hadn't gotten over the fact a girl couldn't possible like him and Lea was annoyed at having to deal with a petulant five year old at dance practice.

The tango had a lot of quick short, sharp steps, as if they were marching on a battlefield, and sharp turns, and a lot of time being hand locked with partners.

On Wednesday night's practice Sirius had jerked Lea around so hard and suddenly during the turns that she in turn stomped on his foot every chance she got to whilst they were stomping around on the dance floor.

By the end of the practice Sirius was limping out the Great Hall with Remus supporting him. Lea may be small but she had strength.

They were so busy despising each other and trying to maim each other during practice that they failed to notice the blooming feelings of romance developing between their best friends.

Lily sat hunched over her Transfiguration homework and stared at the page in front of her. Nothing made sense to her. Not the words on the page that she couldn't seem to read. Not the way James had suddenly jumped from being okay to cool, bypassing "fine" all together in matter of a days. Not the fact that she blushed every time his hands held hers when they danced. Not the sparkle in his eyes when he smiled. Not the fact that she suddenly found himself attractive or the fact that she liked him.

Holy mother of Merlin. She liked him.

She liked him.

James Potter. Quidditch maniac, prankster extraordinaire and overall obnoxious prick.

James Potter. Funny, down to earth, free spirited and real.

She closed her eyes and then slammed her forehead down on her book. For a long moment she just laid there. Not wanting to get up and face reality.

"Lily?"

Groaning, she lifted her head and looked miserably at her best friend's face. Lea sat down and wrapped her hand around hers.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Lily shook her head. She wanted to scream. Or cry. She wasn't sure. Maybe do both.

Lea nodded and took a look at the Transfiguration work in front of them. Silence fell over the pair and Lily looked at their linked hands. She was a good mate.

"Hey Lea?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Sure. Anytime Lils. Anytime."

They both knew that when Lily was ready she would tell her what was bothering her. Lea was in no hurry to find out and Lily was in no hurry to tell something she didn't even begin to understand.

* * *

On Friday night before practice Lea lay in her bed immersed in _From Here to Eternity_. It was taking her as long as it took the Allies to liberate Paris to get through the damn book. Eight hundred pages and she had only gotten to page 382. At this rate she would reach the end by the end of the seventh year.

Her concentration was broken when Lily wrenched open her bed hangings, a frown on her pretty face.

"Yeah?"

"I like him."

"Who?"

"James."

"Potter?"

"No, the Fifth! Yes, of course James Potter."

"Christ in a sidecar." Lea sat up and threw aside her book. Staring hard at her friend she asked incredulously "You, like James Potter?"

"Apparently…."

"James potter. James who caused a wind to blow your skirt up in third year, asked you out repeatedly for six years, hexes people for fun, Quidditch maniac and git extraordinaire Potter?"

"It seems so."

"Hum. Well…okay then."

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" Lily cried out.

Lea bit back a laugh as she watched her mate freak out. "Well love, what do you want me to tell you? I'm trying to be supportive of understanding your feelings. So you like James, big deal."

"Of course it's a big deal! I've spent most of my time and energy hating him and now apparently I like him!"

"Well honey, what the heart wants, the heart wants…."

"And now I'm having this ridiculous dreams about him and—"

"Wait, you're dreaming about him now?" Lea cut her off.

Lily flushed. Damnit. "Well it's not like I try to! It just…happens."

"Lily you've been having dirty dreams about James!" Lea crowed with laughter. She rolled over, shoulders shaking.

"Shaddup I have not! They're just dreams."

"Dreams about the guy you like."

"Yeap. Looks like that way."

"And you came to tell me this….."

"Tell me what do damnit!"

"Follow your feelings. Lily, take a chance and see where it goes. Life is both short and long and you're never going to truly live if you're just sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else pass you."

Lily looked at her friend. She shrugged in response.

"So…"

"So what?"

"Me liking James? There's nothing wrong with that?" Lily asked timidly. Lea looked at her strangely.

"Why would it be wrong? James is actually a nice guy. He's funny, smart and not bad on the eyes."

"Wait, you think James is okay?" Lily asked surprised. Lea shrugged. "I've hung around him here and there with Remus. He's pretty cool."

"Unlike Sirius."

"Ugh, don't get me started on that long haired galoomp." Lea grumbled pulling her curls back in a ponytail. Lily laughed and glanced at the clock, seeing it was time to go for their dance practice.

"Long haired galoomp?"

"Cartoon insult reference."

"Oh right. I knew I shouldn't have let you watch so much television when you're at my house." Lily shook her head.

"Muggles are so cool! You guys have a television! I wish I had a television."

* * *

Sirius stomped into the Great Hall and plopped down on the floor beside Lea who was stretching. A snarky insult was on the tip of his tongue before he glanced over to see his best friend laughing along with the girl of his dreams.

Wait, both of them were laughing? Was he living in a parallel world?

He rubbed his eyes and then studied the pair more closely. Lea turned to see what he was looking at and then turned back. Impassively she said, "She likes him."

Sirius snapped his attention to her. "Come again?"

"You're not hallucinating. They're getting along. And she likes him."

"Whoa when did this happen?" Sirius asked interested. She sighed and then brought her knees up, circling her arms around them.

"I dunno. Some time in between all the dancing, spinning, the civil conversations they've managed to have and the dreams she's had,"

Sirius looked at her oddly. "Have you been smoking something?"

"Not as of lately."

He wanted to smile at this. "You're very odd."

"Thanks. I try my best."

"Don't I know it." He muttered under his breath and then shot his best friend another look. Seriously? James Potter got the girl and he couldn't even get this one to like him as a human being? Ridiculous.

The site of his friend laughing with Lily and looking so goddamn happy struck a nerve with Sirius. He wasn't sure why. Suddenly a slideshow of all the girls he had dated or made out flashed before his head and then he realized that he had never genuinely liked a girl or cared for one. Cared enough to want to do something more than make out or have lighthearted conversations.

"_You've never had a friend who was a girl!"_ Lea's words echoed in his head.

Well he could change that. At least, he hoped he could.

As Professor Longstreet and Josie turned on the salsa music to begin the night, Sirius got to his feet and then stuck out his hand to her. Warily she looked at it before accepting it and rising to face him.

He slid his hand to rest on her lower back and she lightly placed her hand on his neck as they begun to tentatively dance to the steps they had learned earlier that week.

After a moment or two Sirius broke the silence. "I'm sorry."

Lea's eyebrows drew together. "For what?"

"For being a prick during last week's practice and being a prick overall."

Her lips quirked into a small smile, "I'm sorry for stomping on your toes."

"It's ok. I deserved it I guess. Actually I could stand to be taken down a notch or two and you have effectively done that."

"You're welcome," Lea said off handily. Sirius snorted and looked down at her. He shifted so that they dancing diagonally alone an imaginary line instead of back in forth. The salsa involved a lot of hip and leg movement. He lifted a hand and spun her, once, twice, before he turned her back into him. She accidentally bumped into his chest and caught a whiff of his scent.

He smelled good. He smelled of the combination of deodorant, aftershave and weirdly, something akin to incense. She made a mental note to ask him about if she ever felt like it.

For a brief moment, he held her there as they continued to dance to the music, relishing the closeness of having her against him. It was a different kind of closeness than the ones he had felt with other girls.

Lea was so close against him she could practically count the individual threads of the red shirt he was wearing. It was worn out, and looked soft. Her fingers reached out on their own and rubbed the fabric. It was as soft as she imagined, like something you'd want to press your cheek against.

He felt her touch on his chest and a funny feeling shot down his spine. Embarrassed, Lea jerked her hand back and took a step back. He looked at her with an unreadable expression. Feeling as if she needed to explain herself, Lea took a step backward creating some much-needed space.

"I…ah…well…your shirt looked so worn out and soft, and I wanted to feel it to see if it really was as soft as it looked…I kind of have a thing for textures, and material. And I have a bunch of shirts that I've had forever that I keep wearing cos they get softer with each wear and I just saw yours and yeah." Lea rambled on.

Sirius blinked. "I think this is as much as I've ever heard you talk."

"Oh." She flushed. The song ended and she let go of him.

"But I get what you mean. I like shirts like that too." He added. Lea looked at him.

"I mean, I have shirts I keep wearing forever and ever, even if they get holes because they get soft and it feels nice and yeah. I get what you mean."

"Really?" she asked doubtfully. "I mean, I know I'm a weirdo, you don't have to sugar coat it."

"No! Really, I do. Look, I'll bet you that I have a shirt that's way softer than yours,"

She laughed. "I'm sure you do seeing as you're a guy and never wash things."

"Hey! I wash things. Or rather…the magical laundry service of Hogwarts washes things for me. Okay, sometimes I forget to throw my clothes in the pile before it goes out and I'm left with literally nothing to wear, believe me, it's not comfortable going commando." He rambled on.

Lea just looked at him, her expression saying "_Really? Are we really talking about this_?" And he promptly shut up.

"Sirius do yourself a favour and start using something very important before you talk,"

"What?"

"Your brain!"

* * *

_A/N: Press the pretty blue button and review? Thanks!_


	8. Lunging Forward

_A/N: Thank you so much for all of your support, the reviews, the story alerts and the favourites. I appreciate it so much. And now here's the next chapter. Read, enjoy and review! Happy holidays my lovelies. xoxoxo_

* * *

_"Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy."_

"Okay, stop stomping, you're dancing, not invading the You-Know-Who's Headquarters," Josie commented at Sirius.

He let out a frustrated sigh and dropped Lea's hands. It was Wednesday night and they were going through the Paso Doble that they had learned the day before. The only change was that they had been introduced to wearing dancing shoes and Sirius was unaccustomed to wearing a heeled shoe.

"Well then how am I supposed to move?" He asked irritated. He was in a bad mood today having a pile of homework he needed to catch up and a beginning of a headache building in his head.

"Like this," Josie took Lea's hands and then demonstrated sharp, deliberate, but light steps. "Focus on being lighter on your feet," The pair whirled around for a bit, Lea concentrating on following the instructor's footwork.

"And you need to focus on keeping your shoulders down a little bit more Lea, we both know you know it's important to keep the holding position tight, but the shoulders need to remain level with the rest of you, if it's higher then it ruin the rest of the line you form." Josie said critically. Lea nodded and rolled her shoulders as if giving them a pep talk.

"Okay. Let's try it again. Focus more on the technique." She said before turning her attention to another couple.

Sirius and Lea looked at each other with the same flat look of mutual annoyance.

"Are you feeling as shitty as I am now?" Sirius asked running his hand over his face.

"Pretty much yeah," she agreed as she approached him again. Even though it was only Wednesday she felt exhausted. She hadn't been sleeping well which is something since she was an insomniac and her eyes felt tired and itchy.

They started to dance again, trying their hardest to perform the steps correctly, and keeping their shoulders down, Sirius accidentally lunged too far and then slipped on the floor thanks to his shoe, bringing Lea down with him in a heap.

For a moment, they just laid there, stunned by aftermath of the fall.

"Crap, I'm sorry, Lea, I didn't mean—"

She waved a hand. "Don't' worry about it. After four weeks of this is just standard procedure. " Sitting up, she looked up at the ceiling and to the starry night. "Why don't you take off your dance shoes? Let's practice on our technique without the shoes and see if that makes a difference."

Sirius gladly complied and wrenched the bloody things off his feet, resisting the urge to chuck the shoes at Tomas and Josie's head. Wincing slightly, he got to his feet.

"Are you hurt?" Lea frowned seeing his face. At this Sirius bit back a smile. Hearing the faint voice of concern in his voice was definitely an improvement in their non existent, barely there relationship. Friend ship. Or some ship.

"Nah. Just got a headache coming on," he wrapped an arm around her waist drawing her closer to him.

"Oh that sucks. I'm sorry,"

Sirius did smile this time and Lea found it attractive. It was a different smile, different from his usual confident grin, smirk, leer or whatever else he sported on his face. Then she mentally slapped herself. Since when did she find herself thinking that Sirius' smile was attractive?

She was tired and a little out of it. That's why her analysis buttons weren't working. But then she rationalised from a purely anthropological point of view, that aesthetically speaking, Sirius was good looking, he knew, she knew it, the people in the paintings knew it. So it was perfectly reasonable to find him attractive, as long as she wasn't attracted _to_ him.

She gripped his hands as he stepped back stretching the length of her body nearly parallel to the floor. It was a new move they had learned and it was a little difficult to master and more than one girl had ended falling on the floor from being off balance.

Lea could feel her body shaking underneath the strain of being in that particular position. Uh oh.

"Sirius, get me back up, get me back up or drop me down!" she panted as she struggled to maintain her balance.

"Wat?"

"I can't hold this stance Sirius, I'm going down, so either get me back up or let me go!" she hissed.

Sirius abruptly dropped her hands and she collapsed face down on the floor. For a moment she just laid there and Sirius bit back a grin as he tapped her behind with his foot.

"Get your foot off my arse!" a muffled voice came from the ground.

"C'mon partner, get up, let's try this again."

"I'd like to see you bloody well try this pose! You'll love how it feels!"

"Oh come on. It can't be that hard," Sirius sniggered. Lea stood up and slapped her hands on her hips.

"Ok Mr. I'm So Awesome, you try the pose and tell me how it feels,"

Sirius rolled his eyes and clasped her hands again. This time she stepped back dragging him out lengthwise along the floor. And then Sirius suddenly realized what she meant by the feeling of it. It wasn't pleasant.

"Ok ok ok! You win, now bring me back up!" he gasped as he felt his hands slipping from her grasp.

"Not a chance Sirius! You really need to feel the full experience of this stupid pose!" and with that she let go of his hands and he hit the ground with a thud.

"Oof!" he exclaimed.

"See? I told you." Her voice came up from above.

"Yeah yeah yeah I know. I'll keep be more considerate of you if we ever do that pose again." Sirius agreed. She stuck out her hand to pull him up and he gratefully accepted.

"Okay let's try this stupid Paso Doble from the top again." She instructed. Sirius sighed and threw his arms around her neck from behind and swung them around. "No more. Sirius can't function."

"Get off me!" she swatted at him. He just tightened his hold around her. She stomped on his foot. Yelping he let go of her.

"Remember the rule of **NO UNECESSARY TOUCHING**?" she yelled at him.

"No, but thanks for reminding me you bloody madwoman," he retorted.

* * *

_A/N: Make my morning (or afternoon, evening) by reviewing? Thank you!_


	9. So Close, Yet So Far

_A/N: Thanks for all of your support, the reviews, those of you who have favourited or it put it on their story alert. I really appreciate it. And now here's the next chapter! Enjoy, read and please review! :) Happy Holidays everyone!  
_

* * *

_"I have three kinds of friends: those who love me, those who pay no attention to me, and those who detest me_"

-Nicolas De Chamfort

After practice had ended for the night the group wearily made their way up the numerous staircases back to the Fat Lady. Lily and James were deep in some conversation and every now and then they could hear her laughing. Remus was shyly talking with Marlene as Peter trailed behind them which left Lea in the back with no other than the spout flavour Bertie Bott bean of her existence.

Sirius has noticed this too and slid a sideways glance at her. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her. Outside of lessons and their dance classes he realized he had never properly talked to her. Most of their conversations included insults, lewd suggestions on his part or something equally charming. For Merlin's sake, no wonder she didn't like him!

Lea however seemed perfectly content walking back in silence, her mind busy thinking about the numerous things she had to do tonight. Truth be told she was so tired she was zoning out and didn't even hear Sirius talking to her until he grabbed her elbow.

"You really just touch me whenever you feel like it, don't you?" She commented. He dropped his hand.

"No, I touch you a fraction of whenever I want to actually," he replied without commenting and then mentally slapped himself. Way to get her to soften up, smooth move idiot.

Lea chose not to comment on this. "What were you saying earlier? I was kind of zoning out."

"I don't know. Nevermind." He said wanting to keep his mouth shut. His brain wasn't right and his mouth was shooting off all kinds of stupid things. The last thing he wanted to do was look stupid in front of her.

Lea felt a little bit bad about not listening to him. Truth be told, while Sirius Black might be an egotistical jack ass most of the time, he was also pretty amusing every now and then, a thing she was beginning to find out. And she didn't hate him, she just wasn't fond of him.

Sometimes though, she honestly tried to figure out why she didn't like him so much. She liked Remus and James fine, she even tolerated Peter, but Sirius was just someone who pissed her off for no good apparent reason. But why?

Great. Now she would be psychoanalyzing herself.

They found themselves clambering through the portrait hole and made their way across the Common Room. Lily and Marlene immediately disappeared up the stairs to their dorm and James and Remus followed in suit up their own respective staircase. Everyone was wiped out.

Lea however collapsed on her favourite squishy armchair near the fire and closed her eyes. Sirius stretched himself on the couch next to her chair and gazed thoughtfully into the fire. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing or why he was here, but all he knew that he was desperate just to be within her orbit.

"Hey, Lea," he broke the silence. She mumbled a response but kept her eyes closed. He decided to dig himself a hole and went on, "Do you still…hate me?"

At this question she opened her eyes. For a moment she was quiet. "I never hated you to begin with Sirius,"

"You just don't like me," he observed. "No. like I told you, I don't not not like you, I don't know exactly what you are in my world to be honest," she replied.

"I thought I didn't mean anything to you?" Sirius heard the faint note of vulnerability in his voice and hated himself for it.

"I'm sorry for that, I realize just how utterly tactless I was," she apologized sincerely. "And for the record….I don't think you're nothing to me anymore. You're…okay." She grudgingly admitted.

Sirius felt his entire being lighten at that admission. Hooray! She didn't hate him and he didn't mean nothing to her! Progress!

"But that doesn't mean I'm going to join your scary fan club or fall at your feet or unbutton my blouse to get your attention!" she firmly said.

_Believe me, you already have all of my attention just the way you are_, he grimly thought to himself.

"I'm not asking you too," he retorted. "Believe me, I don't really like the fan club. To be honest they scare the crap out of me,"

This surprised her. She would have thought all that extra attention would have buoyed him even more. Boys loved girl's attention, which is probably why she never gave him hers.

"And I prefer to go after the girl myself rather than have her chase me, it's more fun for me," he added.

"Good to know," she answered sarcastically. She thought for a moment before plowing ahead with her next question.

"Why does it bother you so much that I…." she trailed off not quite sure how to phrase it.

"Don't like me very much? Think as me as the most annoying thing on earth? Won't even spare me a second glance in the hall?" Sirius finished.

Lea bit her lip and struggled to come up with a reply, but to her relief Sirius broke out in a good-natured grin.

"Relax, I know I went a little crazy yelling at you a couple of weeks ago, but then again I wasn't really thinking straight and I kind of lost my cool but it's ok, I can understand why you might not like me," he replied.

"Oh really?" she asked sardonically.

"Yeah I am a huge egotistical jack ass most of the time," he said pensively. Lea let out a laugh and Sirius chuckled too.

"No really, I am sorry Sirius for saying those things. Merlin knows that I am far from perfect and most of the time I lack a sense of propriety but yeah, I'm so sorry if I hurt you," Lea said scooting towards the edge of her seat, as if trying to convey her sincerity by getting closer.

"Thank you, I appreciate it, don't worry about it,"

"And again, I don't hate you Sirius. In fact, in times like this…you're pretty…okay." She said wrinkling her nose.

Sirius almost laughed at her expression. It was cute. "Would it kill you to say "fine" or "nice," or "cool" or "awesome,"?

Lea just looked at him and Sirius mentally slapped himself. "So close!" he lamented.

"Yet so far Black. For a moment, you really were close to being "fine"," she replied.

"But nowhere near to being "awesome" right?"

"Not even close,"

* * *

_A/N: Review? Our hero Sirius would love you if you did, as it gives him encouragement when it comes to pursuing our favourite (if not a little silly at some points) heroine. :D_


	10. A Knut For Your Thoughts

_A/N: Thanks for all of your support, the reviews, those of you who have favourited or it put it on their story alert. I really appreciate it. And now here's the next chapter! Enjoy, read and please review! :) Happy Holidays everyone!_

* * *

_Everyone should have at least two friends - one to talk to and one to talk about._

It's kind of hard to believe that so much could change in four weeks, but it did. To her amazement, Lea found Lily blushing at the mention of James's names and noticed the lingering glances she gave him when she thought no one was looking. Yes things had changed indeed.

Perhaps the biggest change that Lea found herself surprised with was her own attitude towards Sirius. Sure he was still a pain in the butt most of the time (okay, maybe half the time now), but lately he seemed to have more moments where he was "ok" than not. And the most bizarre part was that she began to find him amusing!

This bothered her a little bit, she had spent the last six years essentially ignoring him the best she could when they hung out as a group for various reasons and all of a sudden in the matter of four weeks she found herself seeing him a better light. Were her emotions really that fickle?

But of course, it would be completely stupid, irrational and not to mention immature to force herself to will her emotions to keep disliking him.

Then what should she do? Her mind was speaking to her in different voices, offering different pieces of advice, and it was confusing her.

Ugh she was giving herself a headache. She really shouldn't be thinking about this so much.

"A Knut for your thoughts?" Remus asked breaking her out of her headache inducing thoughts. The pair of them was walking down an empty hallway returning from the library. It was late and both of them were lazily making their way back to the Common Room.

"Please, give me a dozen Galleons or so for them for all the trouble they're giving me," she groaned dragging her feet. Remus stopped, shifted his weight to one foot and gazed at her with a faint smile.

"I told you all your manic studying isn't healthy for you," he chided.

"It's not studying related thoughts. It's life-related." She grumbled as she began to walk again.

"Padfoot?"

"Who?"

"Sirius," He reminded. Lea nodded. "I forgot you lot used those stupid little nicknames,"

"Hey! They're _not_ stupid!" he protested. Lea just gave him a look that said "_psshh, please_"

"Anyway, moving right along," she said breezily.

"Oh God what's he done now?"

"Nothing! Except….become more…tolerable? Pleasant? I don't know!" she sighed frustrated.

Remus recognized the same kind of behaviour he saw in Lily when she was realising that James wasn't that bad in Lea. He laughed silently to himself but Lea saw his shoulders shake.

"What is it Remy?" she asked using her pet name for him.

"Do you ever think…that deep down, waaaayy deep down…you may actually….I dunno…fancy Sirius?" Remus asked carefully not wanting to get his head bitten off.

Lea stopped in her tracks. Her mouth dropped open in a comical "O". "What the hell are talking about Remus?" she asked shocked.

"I'm just saying that Mister Freud might have been right in some of his crack pot theories with suppression and all that blahblahblah. Not that this basic display of behaviour is attributed to Freud, but it's really, just basic human instinct." Remus began rambling.

"Get to the point!"

"Right, so my point is that this is that your behaviour about your feelings towards him are the classic love/hate feeling. You hate them on the outside but secretly love them but never show it because you're afraid of ruining whatever image or blahblahblah you project."

"Remind me why I'm friends with you again?"

'Shaddup. I'm just putting out a theory."

"Yeah, a ridiculous one!" Lea snorted.

"Well let's just say, theoretically, that this idea was true for a moment, what would you say to it?" Remus talked over her.

Lea tipped her head up and closed her eyes. "I'd say that you must have taken a bad magic mushroom and must have lost your marbles."

"Be serious!"

"I am being serious! I don't see him like that, I mean, sure he's good looking and everything but please, besides this is just all theoretical."

"Says you," Remus muttered under his breath. She elbowed him and then retorted "Well at least I'm not the one who refuses to make a move on the girl he likes!"

"It would be a moot point! She has a boyfriend." Remus huffed. Lea crossed her eyes at him.

"So?"

"So? I'm not Sirius! I respect people in relationships. It's called having good karma, so that when you get into a relationship, hopefully your good karma will count for something and no one will come and try to ruin your relationship!"

"Ugh you're such a hippie!"

"I am **NOT **a hippie!" he said loudly. She ignored this and continued, "Besides, no matter how good your karma is, there always be some bonehead who is stupid enough to want to go and mess up your relationship. And do you know why? It's cos we're human, and we're prone to making poor decisions and we basically enjoy making each other miserable for our own amusement!"

"You are such a pessimist. Merlin's beard you really need to start taking some optimism pills at breakfast." Remus replied.

"Shaddup. And do us both a favour and don't even try suggesting I secretly fancy Sirius ever again, unless you want me to whack you with a broomstick when you're not looking."

"Consider it never to be spoken of again." Remus agreed solemnly. Knowing her she _would_ knock him over the head with a broomstick.

For a moment they didn't speak. Then Lea off handily said, "You know, if we weren't such good friends and everything, I would have liked to been your girlfriend."

Remus grinned and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Same here. If you weren't so much like a sister to me I would have asked you out earlier. You know, I used to have the biggest crush on you,"

"You did?" Amazed Lea looked at him. He merely nodded in response. "Why didn't you tell me? When?"

"Dunno. Started around the end of fourth year and well into fifth year I think. But then you started dating Fabian so I never really did anything about. Besides, round fifth year you and I got a lot closer cos of all the fighting between you two so I just began to see you in a different light."

"Huh. I never knew. But man, you really came through for me during the rough patches with him."

"But you had some good times together didn't you?"

Lea smiled at the memories. "Oh yeah definitely. I mean, we had our problems and we were both temperamental, but the good times? They were so good, and even the bad times, in retrospect I still remember them fondly because they made the relationship what it was."

"But why did you put up with his bullshit for so long?" Remus asked curiously. She shrugged. "Oh for the same reason anyone does anything for a person, I loved him. And I was young, I didn't really know any better."

"I don't even know about that kind of stuff, I've never even been a in a proper relationship!" Remus replied.

Lea snorted. "Believe me mate, it's a lot of work. Compromise. And that is why I don't do them anymore."

"You say that now Lea, but believe me, you'll find some bloke who'll inspire you to want to try it again."

"Oh yeah? Says who?"

"Me, cos it's a fact mate. Like you said, you're young now and to be honest, we both don't know any better. But as we get older, things might change."

"Pa ha. I'd love to see the day I meet the poor sod who inspires me to want to give up my Unabomber existence."

"Oh man, me too. When I do, I'm going to go up to him and congratulate him and then warn him of the thing he's gotten himself into!"

"Shaddup Remus!"

* * *

_A/N: Now a thought occurred to me that some of you might get a little impatient for Lea to get her act together, but remember she doesn't know Sirius all that well, so I'm trying to pace this out realistically, so we're in for a long, but hopefully enjoyable ride. Trust me, I think the developments in the upcoming chapters will greatly entertain us and I update soon, especially with all the encouragement you've given me. :) Please review!_


	11. One Step Forward

A/N: Thanks **so** much for all of your support, the reviews, those of you who have favourited or it put it on their story alert. I really appreciate it. And now here's the next chapter! I couldn't resist but upload another instalment as because it's Christmas Eve/Holiday time. Also, for more Marauder goodness I posted a one shot of Lily and James and their first Christmas as a married couple, titled _Dancing Unicorns and Mistletoe._ ANYWAY Enjoy, read and please review! :) Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

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_Sometimes in order to move forward, you have to go backwards_

It was week five now of their dance lessons and so far they had learned four dances: the Jive, the Tango, the Salsa and the Paso Doble. The Latin dances had been by far the most difficult dances to learn as far as technique went and it wasn't uncommon to see the Sixth and Seventh years randomly practising a dance move in the hallways or in their rooms.

Lily had once walked into the dormitory to see Marlene and Lea practising the Salsa and needless to say she too joined in the impromptu practice. It gave Lea and Lily a chance to learn more about their third room mate and had since then quietly enveloped her into their friendship. Lea was pleasantly surprised to find Marlene as driven as her Lily and herself in her goals. When Marlene informed them she was studying to work in the Wizarding Courts as a lawyer, Lea's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"I know right?" Marlene had laughed. "I may appear to be a girly girl and be into make up and boys and okay, my mum made do the whole débutante thing since she did it,"

"Debutante?" Lea asked confused. "It's this thing that Muggles do in high society, presenting their daughter to their circle of friends or society when she's deemed as an adult and is eligible for marriage offers blahblahblah," Lily explained.

Lea looked utterly confused, Marlene smiled, "Yeah, my mum's a Muggle and she was really into it so I did it too, to appease her at the idea of my wanting to study Law. I mean, it's not about girls having to be this or that or "either/or" we can be this and that, or many things at once. You can be an Auror and still wear heels if you want to."

Her strong opinions had really impressed Lea and she secretly thought Marlene was perfect for Remus.

"Oi wait for me!" her voice carried out. Lea and Lily stopped to see Marlene running towards them. They waited for her and once she reached them they started to make their way to their dance lesson.

"I really hope we're done learning the Latin dances," Marlene groaned. Lily nodded. She couldn't for the life of her, understand the difference between the Tango and the Paso Doble, they both involved a lot of stomping around in her mind.

"Maybe we'll learn the waltz tonight, or something, anything slower than the Latin dances," Lea replied hopefully. She was exhausted and it was only Monday night.

"But you have to admit, at least you're whirling around the dance floor with the hottest guy in school," Marlene pointed out. Lily bit back a chuckle and Lea wrinkled her nose.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah so? Doesn't mean I can't look? Besides even guys with girlfriends look at other girls too." Marlene waved her hand.

"Believe me I know they do," Lea said through gritted teeth remembering all too well Fabian's wandering eyes and hands.

"So is his ego really as inflated as people say?" Marlene asked. Lea snorted. "Oh yeah, gravity is the only thing keeping him grounded, without it he'd be floating around in space due to the sheer size of his ego."

"But he's not so bad," Lily interrupted feeling the need to defend James' best mate. She wasn't sure why though.

"Yeah he's not so bad. When he wants to be he can be nice." Lea grudgingly admitted.

"Is he a good dance partner?"

"Why don't we switch partners and find out? I'd take Remus over him any day!" Lea suggested. Marlene giggled. "No way! He's actually pretty good at it and he's a perfect gentleman when it comes to placing his hands in the correct places. He never lets them linger anywhere too long or says anything inappropriate."

"Yeah, he's just so dreamy," Lily replied sarcastically. Lea shot her a look and she shut up.

"Who? Me?" a male voice asked behind them. The girls turned around to Sirius himself smiling cheekily. Marlene laughed and Lily shook her head. Lea bit the inside of her cheek and said, "Actually most of the time you're a nightmare,"

"Hey!"

"Kidding! You're a nightmare only half the time," she amended. Sirius shoved his hands in his pockets. "Well at least it's progress right ladies?" he asked.

"Yeap. I mean, that's a huge leap of progress in Lea's world," Lily agreed.

"One step at a time! Sooner or later I'll cross over to being dreamy!"

Lea just looked at him and Sirius grimaced. "I know, I know! One step forward and three humongous leap frog steps backwards right?"

"For once, yes you are right on the money Black,"

"Is it even possible to leap frog backwards?" Marlene wondered.

None of them had the chance to answer this as Professor Longstreet and their dance instructors ushered them in to their usual warm up routines. Each class began with ten minutes of stretching and then they usually practised one of the dances they had learned earlier. Sirius suggested that they practice the salsa as it was their weakest dance out of the dances they had learned. Lea had a tough time keeping her upper body still as her legs and hips did most of the work.

"Ugh I can't do this!" she cried out dropped her hands from Sirius' waist. She tugged at her ponytail and Sirius put his hands on her shoulders. "Relax Lea, it's like you said, the more we practice the better we'll become, dancing is like magic."

"Yeah well at least I understand magic! I don't understand why my body is incapable of listening to my brain!"

"Well take heart in that this is by far not the only situations our body doesn't listen to our brain," Sirius sniggered thinking of something entirely different.

It took a moment for Lea to understand what he was alluding to and she swatted his arm. "Oh c'mon! Do you ever think of anything else?"

"I'm a seventeen-year-old dude and believe me, my body, and to be honest, most guys bodies rarely listen to our brains. Hence why we are the stupider of the sexes." Sirius deadpanned.

Lea couldn't help but laugh at this. "Finally, something we agree on. But seriously, I hate this dance, it's all about hips—" she shook her hips to demonstrate this, "and these stupid little dance steps rah! I don't even have hips! I can't do this."

"Whatever hips you have, they're nice enough and yes, you can do this," Sirius commented without thinking. She looked at this with a strange expression and he realised that what he said and groaned. "Are you going to hit me for that?"

"No, I was going to say 'thank you' but if you want I can hex you instead,"

"Thank you is great thanks." He answered quickly before she could change her mind.

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_A/N: I know these may seem like short chapters, but I update frequently (especially with encouragement heh), and each scene kind of needs to stand alone otherwise the plot and the character's evolution gets a little skewed. We are **extrrrreeeemly** close to an exciting new development that involves our favourite Marauder that I think you're all going to enjoy. ;) Review! xoxo_


	12. Brilliant Move

_A/N: Thank you **so** much for all of your support, the reviews, and those of you who have favourited or it put it on their story alert. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review!_

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_"And then he thought of a brilliant move,"_

Professor Longstreet clapped his hands and a hush fell over the students. Smiling he said, "All of you have been working really hard in the last four weeks and I have to say, I'm really pleased with you lot.

Tonight, we're going to learn the Viennese Waltz. It's a slower dance and it is one of the oldest of the current ballroom dances."

Josie picked up where he left off saying "There are two styles, the American Style and the International Style. We will be teaching you both styles tonight." Tomas came up to her and placed his hand on her waist and lifted her other hand in his and they began to waltz to the "Blue Danube" that had suddenly started.

Professor Longstreet continued speaking, "Traditionally the Viennese Waltz is a rotary dance, which means the dancers are always turning in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction, and in between, non-rotating change steps are used to switch directions.

A true Viennese Waltz only has turns and change steps. In the American Style, moves such as fleckerls, side sways or underarm turns are used for more which is why you'll be learning both styles."

"What's a fleckerl?" Lea whispered to Sirius who shrugged not having the faintest clue.

Josie and Tomas stopped waltzing as the song came to an end the students clapped. Lily smiled and said to James, "I think I'm going to like this dance, it looks so old school, like 18th century where women wear the gorgeous poufy ballroom gowns, like in the _Sound of Music_!"

"The what?" James asked confused.

Lily looked at him with her mouth open. "_The Sound of Music_? Like, one of the greatest musical films ever?"

"Remember, I have no knowledge of the Muggle world! I don't even have. What do you call it? The big black boxy thing with antennas—"

"A television?"

"Yeah! I don't even have one of those thing nor have I ever seen one, let alone a Muggle movie!" James finished. Lily snorted. "Well you're missing out. _The Sound of Mus_ic is awesome, it came out in 1965—"

"1965! It's like dinosaur old!" James interrupted. Lily elbowed him and continued, "Shut up, it's awesome, the dance scene is really cool."

"Well then stop talking and put on your dancing shoes, let's start waltzing," James told her putting a finger on her lips to shut her up. Surprisingly she didn't pull away from him but nodded in agreement.

Classical music filled the Grand Hall and the couples spread out. Josie and Tomas taught them how to perform the change step and the closed step and the natural turn which meant the partners turn around each other clockwise and then the reverse turn in which they turned around counter clockwise.

Lea felt more at ease with this dance as it made her nostalgic thinking of another time, a time where women dressed up in corsets and had their hair piled up to the skies. She found herself relaxing a little bit more in Sirius' presence and they began to feel more confident in their steps.

"One, two, three, one, two, three and turn," Josie counted as she watched them with a keen eye. "Okay Sirius you need to extend your arm a little more and raise it higher to make the arch you form over Lea more graceful when she turns under you, and Lea, try to arch your back more and extend your neck further to complete the line.

Fix the frame, Sirius, find her shoulder blade, straighten your shoulder lines and remember you step with your heel, heel step, heel step,

You two have the potential of having some really beautiful lines, it's all about tightening your posture and technique, so lets try it again,"

Obediently Sirius and Lea resumed their position, danced for a few minutes and then Sirius slowly raised his arm and tried to do what his teacher had told him, while Lea turned around him and stretched her neck, affording Sirius with a view of her smooth skin encasing her throat and he inwardly swore to himself.

She was so pretty, he thought and apparently he had no effect on her whatsoever. Something must be wrong with him cos he was sure that nothing was wrong with her. He had seen some of the looks other guys gave her, and she often returned their looks with smiles or looks of her own.

It galled his male pride that he, Sirius Black, didn't affect her, at all. Well maybe he should just give up and settle for getting her to accept as him as a tolerable person. But that was even worse, giving up?

Failure, is not an option he told himself. Sooner or later he'd get her to own up to liking him and he could finally sleep normally again and the world would go on as it did before.

Sirius would never admit this to anyone out loud but he was enjoying the Waltz. While the Tango and Paso Doble were stronger, sexier dances, there was something quite nice about the Waltz. Perhaps it was the slower nature of the dance, but he enjoyed gliding about the floor with her, and he loved it when he turned her under his arm or when she turned in a full circle around him.

They waltzed around the room and Lea smiled at him. "This is nice,"

"Yes it is, you're dancing really well too," Sirius said. She flushed with pleasure at his compliment. He had never complimented her before.

"Thanks, but of course you are too. It takes two to tango, no pun intended and you're a good partner."

Sirius beamed. For once they weren't bickering, or teasing, or hitting each other, they were like any other dance couple. It was a big step in their fledgling friendship.

He spun her out and she stretched out one arm, holding the extended pose for a moment before he spun her in towards him again, except he decided to bend her backwards which surprised her and he dipped her low, her pony tail nearly grazing the floor.

"Smooth move Sirius!" she said surprised. He pulled her up again and they practised the basic waltz again. Then he asked, "Hey can we try something?"

"I dunno. It depends." She answered warily. Sirius chuckled. "Remember when you spun around, like three times in a row? You think you can spin more than once on one foot?"

"Like an ice skater?"

"Yeah, I just want to see something," Lea shrugged and stepped closer to him, he took her hand and lifted her arm up and held it as she extended one foot out behind her and spun around, once, twice, and then she stumbled.

"Ahhhh I don't know if I can do it," she began but he interrupted her. "Here, wait, let's try waltzing and then I spin you, maybe if you have more momentum you'll be able to spin more."

They started to dance again and tried Sirius' suggestion and to her surprise, she managed to spin three times in a row on one foot. Pleased Sirius dropped her hand and clapped. "There you go!"

"How'd you know that I'd be able to it?" She asked a little confused. He merely shrugged and gave her a faint smile. "I didn't. I just wanted to see what would happen."

"And if I hadn't been able to?"

"I would have made us do the move over and over again until you could do it,"

"God, you really are a Quidditch player," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeap, and you know it! C'mon let's try it again."

* * *

On Tuesday night Sirius decided to take action and make things happen. Lea's words of him never having a mate who was a girl was echoing in his head and he suddenly had the need to change that. Plus for some odd reason he felt the need to spend more time with her, real time, time that wasn't spent dancing or in a classroom.

They were sitting studying in the Common Room along with Peter and Marlene. Lea was engrossed in a Transfiguration essay and was surrounded by several books open to various places where she continually referenced.

She had her "studying" face on, Sirius noticed. He was far too occupied in studying her facial expressions than with his homework. Her brows were drawn together, her eyes had darkened in concentration and there was a grimness to them. Was she always so serious when she studied? However, he also noticed that her skin glittered in the light that was thrown over her face.

He was paying way too much attention to her. Snap out of it, his mind chided. He barely heard Peter and Marlene bidding them goodnight before they left the table leaving him alone with her.

He absent-mindedly turned a page of his book still looking at her. She tore her gaze from her essay and caught him staring at her.

"What?" she asked a little hoarsely. She cleared her throat, she hadn't spoken in over a hour.

"You have glitter on your face," he blurted out. Lea quirked an eyebrow "Yeah, my face cream that I use has light diffusers in it which reflects light, making me look like I'm glittering."

"Light diffusers?"

"Mate I don't know, I just slap on whatever cream doesn't make me break out." She replied dismissively.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something," He said trying to keep his voice confident.

"Sure,"

"So I'm thinking that you and I need to become friends. And I'd like to take you to Hogsmeade this Saturday."

"Friends? I thought we've established we're friend-ish." Lea said confused.

"Exactly! Friend-ish. And I, refuse to settle for that. We need to move to the next level and become real friends."

"As opposed to imaginary friends?" she asked sarcastically. Ignoring this Sirius went on, "Look, we may have our own preconceived connotations of each other and okay I am huge jackass half the time but I am serious about this. We need to move past this infantile bullshit. We've run in the same circle of friends, our best friends are probably going to end up marrying each other and plus well, it's like you said. I've never had a real mate who was a girl."

"And taking me to Hogsmeade is the answer to the problem?" Lea asked sceptically. She couldn't help but agree with some of the things he said though. He was being rational.

"No, it's just the first step to get the ball rolling. Look, I like you, as a friend," he quickly amended, "You're smart, you're not afraid of being tough and you don't put up with my bullshit. You put me in my place."

"Well someone has to!"

"And I think we're good for each other. In all our classes that we share we always compete for the top marks and all that blahblahblah, and who knows, maybe we can help each other out too academically speaking. Look, I'm putting myself out here. What do you say?" He asked hopefully.

She was quiet for a moment before shooting him a wary look. "This Hogsmeade thing…. it's not your weird way of asking me out on a date right?"

"No! Not all it, it's a friendship date."

"Ugh does the word "date" have to be involved in it?" Lea asked wrinkling her nose.

"No, call it figgy pudding if you'd like—", he waved his hand. "Figgy pudding? That's disgusting. Why not treacle tart? Or Shepherd's pie?" Lea interrupted.

"Call it whatever the heck you like, point is, it's not a date, it's just two friends, hanging out and moving past old perceptions of each other." He replied running a hand through his hair.

She thought for another moment. On one hand, she had been looking forward to hanging out with Remus and Lily, but if she were right in her prediction, Lily would probably be going out with James. On the other hand, she appreciated Sirius' effort in trying to be friends. Really, she did. She knew that she would have never thought of the idea of hanging out together outside of dance class and lessons. He was being the bigger person and she smiled internally at the fact that he was…changing or growing up a little bit. And he had presented a perfectly solid, logical argument, hadn't made no funny innuendoes and seemed sincere enough in his agenda.

Maybe she'd regret this and something stupid would happen. Maybe this could be the beginning of a new friendship. Maybe this would never lead to anything good, maybe all hell would break loose afterwards. Maybe she would say something stupid and he would realise that she was nothing so special after all and that being friends with her was a moot point. Maybe he'd do something that would prove to her that he really is a jackass. Or maybe, they'd have a nice time and realise that they both had more good points to each other and it would be worth it to develop a genuine friendship.

There were so many maybe's, but she would never find out if any of those maybe's would be true, unless she took the chance and spent some time with him.

She was never one to back away from a challenge or the unknown. Life was all about exploring, taking chances and stumbling a bit on your journey. And if you fall, you just get back up when you're ready and continue on that long, winding road.

So she decided to make a decision that would affect them both in the long run. Whether it would be for the better or for worse, time would only tell.

"Okay Sirius. I'll go with you to Hogsmeade this Saturday."

A wide smile broke out on is face. "Great! I think this will be nice, and don't worry, this is not a date, this is just two friends hanging out."

"And getting to know each other," she added hesitantly.

"Yes! And getting to know each other. Believe me, if I was asking you out on a date I would give a totally different argument."

"Hopefully I'll never have to hear that argument ever," she mumbled. Sirius chose not hear this and leaned back in his chair.

"You really are something," he said.

"We all are Sirius, in our own ways," and with that she resumed her studying.

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_A/N: I hope you liked this development! Let me know your thoughts, review! xoxo_


	13. Figgy Pudding

A/N: _I know I say this a lot, but_ _thank you **so** much for all of your support, especially the reviews and alerts. All of you lot are incredible and I feel really lucky to have such great readers. Whew, this chapters was a little difficult to write, it's LONG so it'll be put up in mini instalments since I want to do this friendship date justice and give you all something that you like. I hope all of you have a lovely New Year's Eve and New Years, stay safe and have fun. I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review!_

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_"Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families,"_

As the week wore on, Lea couldn't help but feel a growing sense of trepidation because of what was going to happen on Saturday. She caught himself studying Sirius in their lessons and their dance rehearsals and hated herself for that. This wasn't a date. It was two mates hanging out. That was all.

During dance practice she found herself enjoying traipsing around the floor with him. Now that they had moved on from ignoring or loathing each other and acknowledged that they were acting a little silly, there seemed to be a new understanding between them.

Lea looked up at the ceiling of her four-poster bed and laced her fingers underneath her head. She was thinking way too much about this. It was Friday night and they had finished with their practice. Sirius had parted ways with her by reminding her that he'd meet her at the entrance at eleven am and he was looking forward to it. Then he had disappeared with James laughing his head off at something James had said.

It was now half past ten and she had been lying in the same exact position for the last forty-five minutes. Lily and Marlene entered the room smelling of soap and lotion as they had just finished showering.

"Augh you really should go and visit the Prefect's Bathroom Lea, it's amazing," Marlene said flopping on her bed.

"The one we have here is perfectly nice," Lea replied absent minded. Having being Seventh Years they had the privilege of having their own private bathroom magically added to their room. Sometimes magic really was a wonderful thing. Six years of having to strategically sit and wait for the perfect time shower in the common girl's bathroom paid off by entering the dorm on their first night back and discovering a bathroom had been magically created.

"But we don't have a tub!" She persisted. Lea rolled her eyes. She had other things on her mind than to debate the wonders of the Prefect Bathroom.

"Heeeeeeyyy Lily?" She asked hesitantly. Lily looked at her from her bureau. "Yeah?"

"I can't go dress shopping with you tomorrow," Lea closed her eyes awaiting Lily's inevitable wrath.

"Eh. It's ok, I can't really go dress shopping either," She finally said not looking at her mate.

Marlene and Lea exchanged looks. "And why is that?"

"I have another engagement,"

"What kind of engagement?" Marlene asked shrewdly. This ought to be good.

"It's nothing. I just have to meet someone,"

"Whoooooooo?" Lea asked drawing out the word.

Lily blushed to the roots of her flaming red hair. "All right! I have a date with James tomorrow!" she threw her hands up.

"A date?" Marlene and Lea cried out. They were unaware of this new development. "Are you going out?" Lea demanded.

"No! This date is just something we thought we'd try before we made any decisions or anything! I still don't know how I feel about him or whether or not he wants a serious relationship or—"

Lea snorted. "Ohhhhh trust me he does. The bloke's been in love with you for the last six years. So you have a date with him."

"Yes. And I would appreciate if you two didn't tease me about this. Believe me, I wish I understood my stupid heart's choice myself cos I still wonder at it."

Marlene got up and hugged her. "I think this is great! This could be the start of something amazing!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," Lea countered. "But I do agree, this is good news. I hope things go well." She added not wanting to sound pessimistic. She also remembered that it had been her who encouraged Lily to explore her feelings for James in the first place.

"Thanks girls. Anyway, why can't you go shopping?" Lily asked remembering how they got into this conversation in the first place.

It was Lea's turn to flush. She rubbed her neck and then said, "Sirius and I—"

"ARE GOING OUT?" Marlene shrieked. Lily's mouth dropped open. When did she miss this?

"**NO." **Lea yelled. She waved her hands to get their attention and her roommates face's fell.

"Aw man," Marlene said taking a seat on Lea's bed. Lily joined her and they both looked at their mate for an explanation. Lea fiddled with her wand for a moment.

"You do know that it's okay if you fancy him and this is actually date right?" Lily pointed out. Her head snapped up and she glared at Lily.

"Thanks for your support! But this is not a date. This is a figgy pudding—"

"What?" Marlene asked confused. Lea shook her head and continued. "I mean, Sirius and I, as you know, may have not always been on the best terms and while I may have spent the better part of six years ignoring him, we have agreed that we need to put our preconceived connotations of each other aside and maybe try and be friends."

"You talk too much! Get to the point!" Lily urged. "Right, so Sirius suggested that we get to know each other better outside of lessons and dance practice, because, well to be honest, like I said, he's not all that bad. Yes he's a jackass half the time but tell me what guy isn't?"

"Remus!" Lily quipped. Lea nodded in agreement. "Okay yeah, excluding Remus, most guys, even all my brothers were jackasses at this age. So anyway, when he's not acting stupid…he's okay to be around with. We're friend-ish. He'd like us to become friends."

"Um I think he'd like to be more than that later," Marlene whispered to Lily who smirked in agreement.

"So I would appreciate if you two wouldn't try to insinuate that anything is going on between us, because yes, we all know Sirius is incredibly gorgeous, but no that doesn't mean I want to jump him."

"But if you could, and if you didn't know him, you would?" Marlene asked with a wicked gleam in her eye. Lily looked at Lea waiting for her answer.

"Well of course I would? Am I blind? No! He's hot, but that's not the point. Point is I do know him, kind of, and because of that I think it'd be a great accomplishment for both of us if we did become proper mates."

"You say that now…"

"DON'T RUIN THIS FOR ME!" Lea warned loudly. Lily raised her hands in a peacemaking gesture and everyone calmed down. For a moment no one spoke.

"So what are you going to wear on your dates?" Marlene asked. Lea chucked a pillow at her.

* * *

Night disappeared quickly and Saturday came upon them faster than other Saturdays had before. Lea tossed and turned in her sleep, gave up, went for a run and then came back and showered. She was far too nervous to eat breakfast and declined Marlene and Lily's offer to join them in the Great Hall. Instead, she opted to take a nap and woke up at ten.

Now she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Lea scowled at herself. Was she really going to primp up for Sirius? No. No. No. No. No.

She twisted around critically studying herself and her outfit. Last night she had dug through her wardrobe, and Lily's and Marlene's before settling on the clothes she was currently wearing. Between the three of them they had enough clothes to open their own department store.

She had finally decided on wearing her usual combination of dark, fitted, and a little bit of cleavage. She had paired her dress with a pair of leggings and tugged on her motorcycle boots. Somehow she didn't think stomping around Hogsmeade in combat boots would be entirely appropriate and if they were walking all the way there then wearing heeled boots would be stupid.

Marlene had wanted her to go all out and wear lipstick and curl her eyelashes but since this was just mates hanging out Lea didn't find the logic in that. Plus, she didn't know how to wear all the types of make-up that was available to girls. She didn't understand how to properly apply foundation and hated it. While she loved clothes, she couldn't get quite on board with caking herself up.

She smudged some of her eyeliner and swiped her lip balm over her lips again. "Well Ladies and Gentlemen, this is as good as it gets," she muttered.

"Don't say that, you like nice," Lily assured her. She waved her hand and grabbed her purse. "Thanks, Lils, but you look gorgeous."

And she did. Marlene had curled her hair and she had decided on wearing a dress patterned with loads of flowers, very hippie like, which she also wore leggings with. Lea envied Lily for her tall, willowy frame. She was short and had a rather tomboy build to her, while both Marlene and Lily were tall and were nicely curved. They looked like young women. Most of the time Lea could pass of for fifteen, especially if she wore no make up and sometimes it really got to her. She was only human.

It was kind of funny because while Lea complained about wanting Lily's frame, Lily would often wish for Lea's rich, curling hair and skin. So in a way, they complimented each other nicely.

They pulled on their coats and wrapped their scarves then made their way down the stairs together. Lily made her way to James who grinned big at her and Marlene said she was going to meet up with her boyfriend and to have a good time, which left Lea to make the long walk towards where Sirius was on her own.

* * *

_A/N: We're going to Hogsmeade in the next chapter! If you have any thoughts, ideas or anything let me know. Please review. :)_


	14. One Of The Many Defintions of A Date

_A/N: I'm gonna make this author's note short, but **thank you** to each and every one of you for your support. I hope you had a great New Year's and now here's the next chapter! Enjoy and reviews are loved._

* * *

_"Attraction is not a choice,"_

Sirius slid a glance at her from the corner of his eye. So far things were going okay. They had met up and started walking towards Hogsmeade and then they had started talking. Snow blanketed the trees and the ground and when they finally reached Hogsmeade, Lea had stopped and just taken it all in.

"It looks like a Christmas card!" she said delightedly. Sirius nodded in agreement. All the houses and shops were covered in snow and some places had holiday light strung up. It was the end of November but already the holiday spirit was in the air.

"Do you need to pick up anything or want to go anywhere in particular?" Sirius asked shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Honeydukes!" she answered immediately. "And then I need to stop by the bookstore, I'd like to buy some new books,"

"Sure, where to first?"

"The bookstore." She decided. "Otherwise I won't be able to concentrate on anything else if we go to Honeydukes, and then we can maybe get a drink at the Three Broomsticks."

"Sounds like a plan,"

They spent about half an hour in the bookstore, Lea browsing through various books and Sirius found himself engrossed in a biography of one of his favourite Quidditch players while he waited. She wandered around happily flipping through pages as she finally narrowed her selection before paying for her purchases.

"You really love to read don't you?" Sirius asked as they left the bookstore.

"I do," she answered simply. "I love being able to transport myself in a different world, be a different character, explore different emotions and personalities. I mean, I've never wanted to jump off a bridge, but there are where I've wanted to jump out of my life you know? And reading allows me to temporarily explore something different."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, that's why I kind of like watching films,"

"You watch films?" Lea asked surprised. Sirius gave her a sheepish look. "Okay, so Remus has an aunt whose a muggle and one time she took us to the cinema, we must have been fourteen or something and I thought it was so cool! And ever since then I've kind of been sneaking out to go see a film whenever I can, if my parents knew they'd go ballistic."

"Yeah, Remus once told me your parents were kind of…"

"Insane in their pure-blood obsession and the pure blooded witches and wizards are simply the best?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yea, to something of that affect." She replied. "We don't really see eye on that kind of stuff, we don't really get along that well. That's why threw me out at the end of last year." He said.

"Your parents threw you out?" Lea asked amazed. He shrugged. "Where did you stay?"

"I bunked a bit with Remus for a couple of weeks then stayed the remainder of the holidays with James and his parents. His parents are really cool, he's lucky to have them."

"I'll bet. Cool parents are hard to come by. Where will you go after you graduate?" She asked him.

He shrugged again. "I don't know. I don't really have that much money to afford my own place right away, and depending or not the Ministry of Magic accept my application to study to become an Auror, I really don't know what I'm going to do or where I'm going to go after Hogwarts." He finished a little morosely.

Lea felt a little bad for bringing up a subject he felt a little sensitive about. "It's okay not to have all the answers right away, and whatever you do, do, I'm sure you'll be good at it. I mean, you have an insane amount of self confidence and you're a really good Wizard."

That was high praise coming from her and Sirius felt better. It meant more to him that it was her saying that.

Their conversation took a turn for the better as they turned to lighter subjects. The pair of them wandered around town for a bit, chatting and just idling about. Lea spied Marlene with Benjy in Madame Puddifoot's tea shop and waved at them, Sirius stuck his tongue down his throat and she elbowed him.

"Quiet you! I mean, yes Madame Puddifoot's is god awful but apparently lots of couples love it." She said laughing.

"Oh man, it's not god awful. It's a pink infested hell in there! Ugh I've had terrible dates, it's as if that place makes girls loose half their brain cells!" He ranted. Lea's shoulders shook with laughter.

"Then why do you even bother?"

"Hey, I like to show a girl a nice time before I try to persuade her in entering the tongue tango,"

"Aw jeez Sirius, we were having a nice talk and you just had to go and say that!" she said. Sirius stuck out his tongue at her.

Lea bent down and gathered up some snow and made a snowball. Turning around she threw at him, hitting him square in the face.

He just looked at her, swiping the snow from his face. "OH! What was that for?"

"For making stupid remarks and not using your head!"

He growled and then made a snowball himself. "OH it is so on!" He chucked the snowball at her and she ducked.

She laughed and then took off. Sirius chased after her packing more snow in his hands and threw them at her. They hit her on her back and she shrieked. They weaved in and out of the people and Lea took a moment to scoop up some snow. She turned around and put her arm into it and it hit him in the chest. He yelled and chased around and around the big fountain that was in the centre of the village.

They kept throwing snowballs at each other for awhile before Lea threw her arms up in defeat. Sirius threw one last snowball at her and it hit her chest.

"Okay, I surrender, you win," she panted. Sirius was breathing hard and they both took a minute to catch their breath.

"I accept your defeat. But man, you have got a mean throw!"

"Thanks, told you, I work out,"

She took a seat on the edge of the fountain and Sirius joined her. For a moment they just sat there looking at the snow.

"Honeydukes?" Sirius asked.

"Finally!"

* * *

Honeydukes was what heaven Lea envisioned to be. It was filled to the brim with every kind of sweets a person could imagine. Shelves upon shelves sagged under the weight of brightly wrapped candy and barrels overflowed with sweets. Luscious pink squares of coconuts, all types of chocolate, caramel coloured toffees, glittering sugar spun quills, bonbons and sherbet balls. Along the walls were "**Special** **Effects**" sweets such as Pepper Imps and Ice Mice and "**Unusual Tastes**" among others. It was stunning.

"Oh this is better than Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory," Lea sighed as she began wandering around the shop.

"Huh?"

"Another book, about a sweet factory, this place is so much better," Lea commented as she studied a bar of blueberry dark chocolate.

"Favourite type of sweet?" Sirius asked as he picked up a packet of Acid Pops.

"Honeydukes Rainbow Chocolate Covered Pretzels," she answered immediately. To prove her point she showed him the tin she had already picked up. He chuckled and they wandered over to the **Unusual Tastes** corner of the shop.

"Ever had a blood-flavoured sucker before?" He asked her holding one up. To his utter surprise she nodded.

"Whoa? What it did taste like?"

"Why don't you try one and find out?" she suggested reading the label of bottle of Cockroach Clusters. He snorted at this. "No thanks."

"It's actually not that bad," she said mildly. "Tastes kind of sweet, coppery, it's like sucking a knut."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at her choice of words as he suddenly had a very different scenario in mind. However he chose wisely not to comment on this.

They paid for their sweets and then made their to the Three Broomsticks. Inside it was crowded, noisy, smoky and cozy. They found a table by the fireplace and collapsed on their chairs.

"God I love this time of year," Lea said sentimentally. And she did. It seemed like the world became a little nicer during holiday time.

"Yeah it's nice. Want a drink?" Sirius asked.

"Yes please, surprise me," she replied. Sirius grinned at her and got up from the table flattered by her trust in him to get her a drink.

Ten minutes later he returned with their drinks and slid a steaming tankard towards her. Grateful she took a sip and sighed in satisfaction. Pleased he took a sip of his own drink, firewhiskey mixed with Gillywater soda and said, "Hard apple cider, only comes out this time of year according to Madame Rosmerta."

"It's delicious, here, try some," she offered him her tankard. While he took a sip or two, she dug in her purse and came up with a cigarette and match. Deftly she lit the match with her thumbnail and then lit her cigarette. Sirius smiled in the way that blokes do when a girl does something surprising. She lifted a shoulder carelessly that said, "_Yeah, you know it_,"

"Didn't know you smoked," he remarked. She exhaled a quick stream of smoke and smiled sheepishly. "I don't smoke a lot, it's a nasty habit, but my brothers all do it, so does my mum, but I only try to smoke in pubs or at a show. I don't want to become addicted it."

"So you smoke socially?"

"More or less. Mostly because I enjoy the smell of it, and well, the memories associated with it. It always reminds me of my family or some of the really great music I've seen, and once in a while when I do smoke, it just takes me back to it."

He nodded in comprehension. But then she added, "But don't smoke! Smoking is bad for you!"

He let a out bark-like laugh and shook his hair out of his face. Christ he liked her in. Not in the "I want to date her/shag her" kind of way, but in a companionable, "man she's something kind of way".

They chatted for a bit, enjoying their drinks. Lea learned that he thought his ears were too big for his head (they weren't she assured him), he was allergic to strawberries (made him erupt in hives) and that he had broken his nose three times which explained the slight crookedness to it (she thought it added a touch of sweetness to his face).

In turn Sirius found out that she had pierced her nose as a sixteenth birthday present to herself (he found it quite charming on her), she had received a "P" in her Astronomy O.W.L. (she couldn't for the life of her map things) and she was double jointed in her thumbs and both of her big toes (when she showed him her thumbs he freaked out).

They ended up having a late lunch in the pub and people watched for a while. It was cozy and warm and Lea couldn't imagine being anywhere else at that particular moment.

"Hey Sirius,?" she suddenly asked remembering something. "Why do your clothes smell like incense?"

Sirius flushed and tugged at his hair. "Okay…don't tell anyone this…but I really love incense. It helps me sleep better, I love the smell of it, so I always light at before I go to bed. It drives Peter mad."

"Ohhhh, it's kind of funny, I never pegged you as type who liked incense." She commented.

"Yeah well that's because you didn't know me very well, you were too busy ignoring me," he pointed out.

"Very true. Big mistake on my part. To think we could have bypassed this entire silliness entirely if we had realized it's better to be friends than not earlier." She rolled her eyes and Sirius flicked an empty peanut shell at her.

For a moment Sirius studied her and she squirmed a bit under his keen gaze. "What?"

"You know what I really like about you? And no, I don't mean like _like_, but admire in you? Besides the fact that you don't put up my with my bullshit and that you could probably kick my ass?"

"Do tell me," she drawled lighting another cigarette. This was the last one she promised herself. Smoking wasn't a good habit. Plus it made you wrinkle earlier.

"You're so…. coolly confidant. You could care less about what I or any guy for that matter thinks about you."

"That's because I don't! I have better things to do," she began and he held up a hand. "See! That's exactly it! You're just so…sure of yourself."

She smiled wryly and then hesitated before speaking. "Yeah well…don't worry, I'm fully human and I'm a girl and believe me, I have my doubts and insecurities and flaws." Lea felt it important for him to know that she was human, that she was real, because real friends accept each other, flaws and all.

She was only this honest with Remus and Lily. Sure she liked Marlene, and even James, but she wasn't as close to them as she was to Remus and Lily. She wasn't quite sure she why she was being so candid with Sirius.

Then she realized that in between all of their dancing lessons and the few conversations that they've had in the Common Room or studying together here and there, that he had always been frank with her. Whether or not he was saying stupid things or being sincere he was honest with her.

It spooked her a little bit, to be so honest with someone she really didn't know. But at the same time, it intrigued her.

She snapped out of her musings and smiled at him. "You think I have loads of confidence Mr. Black? You have self confidence up the wazoo!" He snorted and shook his head.

"There's a difference between self-confidence and being egotistical and just riding off the attention people give you." He said thoughtfully. "When people indulge in your antics, I mean, James and I pull a load of prank and to a certain extent and we goof off a lot, you come to begin to put on a show for everyone at school, because that's what they expect. It's not real you know, it's kind of putting on a play."

"Well maybe, god forbid you don't become an Auror, you can go into acting," she suggested biting back a grin. "I mean with a face like yours, I'm sure you'd find work,"

"Yeah and with the rest of me I could probably get a gig as a gigolo," he rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure that either way you'd have a lot of fans," she teased. Sirius threw another peanut shell at her.

* * *

_A/N: Well, that was part 1 of their friendship "date". I hope it wasn't too terrible. More is coming, I promise. Please review. :)_


	15. The Birth of A Romance

_A/N: **Thank you** to each and every one of you for your support. Oookkkayyy, here's the rest of their "friendship" date along with a special appearance of our second favourite couple, James and Lily! Enjoy and please review._

_On a random note: Who else is excited that television has returned to tv? I know I am, my life has a purpose again. Modern Family was hilarious._

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_"Love is friendship without its wings_,"

While Lea and Sirius sat chatting in the Three Broomsticks, Lily and James were wandering around the snow-covered village. James wasn't sure whether or not he could hold her hand. After all, this was all fairly new.

She slid him a merry look and James relaxed a little bit. He proffered an arm to her. Lily smiled and slid her arm through his and they continued to stroll around Hogsmeade arm in arm.

"James?" she asked after a moment as they passed Zonko's. "Yeah?" he replied.

"Can we bypass Madame Puddifoot's all together? That place gives me a headache. It's too pink." Lily said. James laughed.

"I'm relieved to hear you say that. Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go? The Three Broomsticks is always really crowded, plus everyone would be there," James began to ramble.

Lily nudged his shoulder with hers. "Relax James. I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you. In fact, as Marlene put it, I'm on a date with the Gryffindor star Chaser, girls will be rather put off by this development. But let's go wherever you're comfortable."

"What do you mean girls will be rather put off?" He asked confused.

"James I don't know if you have a thing called a mirror, but in case you don't, you should use it and see what most of the girls talk about."

James felt a stupid tug of childish pride at her compliment. "Yeah well I've spent the last four years trying to get you to notice me so I haven't been paying that much attention so the girls. Plus with Sirius' fan club always twittering around him, it's kind of hard to notice normal girls since you're scarred from the stupidity that surrounds him."

"Yeah his fan club is quite scary," Lily agreed.

"I want to go somewhere where I can hear you, and not have to shout over people." James told her.

Lily nodded. "I know a couple of places,"

James looked at her with surprise in his eyes. She smiled mysteriously. "You're not the only one who know likes to explore," alluding to James and Sirius's bromance walks they liked to partake in after curfew.

After wandering through a series of cobblestone alleys, she took him to a cozy little coffee shop that was tucked in between a bakery and a Magical Creatures shop.

"I've never been to this part of town before," James commented as he looked up at the buildings.

"Not many Hogwarts students do, most of us are too busy loading up on merchandise from Zonko's and Honeydukes and then park their butts in The Three Broomsticks."

"Or suck each other's faces off at Madam Puddifoot's," he added.

"Precisely. Lea and I like to wander a lot, to get away from all the students and such, we came across this place in our fifth year." Lily said he opened the door to the café.

It was quite spacious inside with tables, couches and squashy looking armchairs. The crowd was a little older there, but James spied a familiar face or two among the people. On one end of the café there was a wall with bookcases that were stuffed to the brim with books. There was a fire crackling cheerfully and an eclectic collection of art hung on the walls. It smelled of coffee, fresh baked bread and of the scented candles that were lit on the surfaces of the table. James took a deep breath and a lazy smile made its way on his face.

"Yeah the smell kind of makes you go a little funny," Lily said biting her cheek.

"It smells amazing in here!" James said a little dreamily. She shook her head and did a bold thing by taking his hand in hers and leading him to a couch with a table in front of it.

Lily tucked her legs under her and curled into the couch and James eased down beside her. A young woman came over to them, smiled at them and handed them two menu's.

"May I get a cappuccino?" Lily asked. The woman nodded and left to get her drink.

"Holy crap there area lot of choices on here," James whistled as he studied the menu. She laughed.

"Yeah but the food is good, take your time."

The food was good and James settled into the couch content with the atmosphere and the company he had. He took a swig of his mulled mead and said quietly, "This took too long,"

Lily lifted her eyes to his and nodded silently. She closed the small distance between them and leaned into James. "I'm sorry for being an idiot and making you wait so long,"

"It's ok. It was worth it." James cautiously put his arm around her. "I think the time that was spent getting to this point was worth it. It gave us the time to develop into the people who we ended up—"

"Fancying?" she broke in. James grinned and nodded.

"Yeah. Not no, I'm serious. Some people make-out one night and then the next day, they're suddenly together. Some people make-out one night and never speak to another the next day. Some people become friends and somewhere down the line they get together. Some people hate each other initially but then something just conks them on the head and suddenly things change and they get together. People get together in some many different ways, there's not a right or a wrong way." James said.

Lily sat back and digested this. "You're right. What matters is, they you get there in the end. Not the journey towards it."

"But you have to admit, in some cases, the journey towards it can be one hell of a ride, it can be pretty amusing." James grinned.

"Yes, especially if you're a spectator to it," Lily replied privately thinking of Lea and Sirius.

* * *

As Lily and James spent the afternoon cosy-ing up to each other and talking, Peter and Remus joined Lea and Sirius at The Three Broomsticks and the four of them had fun playing Exploding Snap and chatting. They had in-depth discussion about Lily and James and the probability of them becoming official within the week. Peter and Lea had to suffer through a ten-minute argument about Quidditch that had Sirius turning red in the face because of Remus' stubborn stance that it wasn't the greatest sport in the world. They ended the day by going for another round of drinks before calling it a day.

The four of them trudged along the path back to the castle not speaking much because it had gotten colder. Snow began to fall again and Lea pulled her coat around tighter. In her nervous anticipation of today she had forgotten her scarf and she regretted it. Sirius noticed this and without hesitating unwrapped his muffler and handed it to her.

Before she could protest, he changed his mind and then just wrapped the muffler around her himself. "There, now don't even think to argue against it. Shut up, it's cold and I can't have you sick and leave me stranded at dance practice." He said sternly. She shook her head but played with the ends of it, biting back a smile.

"So were you two on a date or something? We kind of lost track of you this morning," Peter asked in a muffled voice.

"No, we weren't on a date date, we were on a friendship date," Sirius explained. Remus just looked at him and he continued, "We just wanted to spend some time one on one to prove to each other that first impressions are not always true and it'd be easier for all of us, if we were proper mates."

"How…very grown up of you…" his mate remarked. Peter rolled his eyes and said nothing. It was a common fact that Sirius really didn't have mates who were girls. And those girls who did start off as mates with him usually ended up as one of his short-term girlfriends. It would only be a matter of time before she became one his girls, or Sirius screwed something up.

"Well you know Remus, I decided that I ought to take steps into growing up."

"And clearly, today was a big step in his book," Lea said loudly nudging Remus. He chuckled.

"Shaddaup you two. I am making an effort—"

"Something you rarely do," Peter cut in and Sirius slapped him lightly on the head. "I am making an effort and everyone should be very proud of me!"

"Okay Sirius, we are all very proud of you, and we appreciate your valiant efforts in trying to grow up." Remus sighed. Lea nodded in agreement and then added, "Yes, I for one, really do appreciate your effort," although she was smiling, there was a warm look in her eyes and Sirius felt himself growing a little bit taller.

It was later that night when Lea realized she had forgotten to give him back his scarf. She had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a pulled on a large jumper over her when she spied the scarf lying on the pile of discarded clothes.

She thought about quickly running over to the boy's dorm and returning it, but it was well past 2 in the morning and she was tired. Marlene, Lily and her had indulged in a girl's night after dinner, recounting how their respective days went. To Marlene and Lea's disappoint Lily hadn't kissed James yet, but they had held hands. They had ended up giggling, gossiping and dancing around to some of Lea's music, savouring the fact that they could still act goofy without worrying about tomorrow. After graduation no one knew where they were going or what they were doing and it was like nights, and days, like these that they really appreciated.

It was late, he was probably asleep and she didn't want to disturb him she reasoned as she put away her clothes. She neatly folded his scarf and caught a whiff of incense and chuckled to herself. He was so odd in some ways.

Lea crawled into bed and wrenched her bed hangings around her. For a moment she just laid there, enjoying the feeling of being under so many layers and then she ran the scarf through her fingers contemplating about its owner.

She'd return it to him first thing tomorrow, she decided and to remind herself she'd keep the scarf on top of her covers tonight so when she woke up it'd be the first thing she saw in the morning.

Lea closed her eyes, fingers still playing with the scarf. When she would wake up in the morning, she'd find her hand tightly curled around it, having kept a grip on it the entire night.

* * *

_A/N: Whew. I hope this wasn't too shoddy and you liked Lily and James. Reviews are loved. 3  
_


	16. With Friends Like These

_A/N: Thank you all for your support, especially those of you who have reviewed. They really keep my motivation up to continue writing even when the characters are being fickle! Enjoy and reviews are loved._

* * *

_"With friends like these..."_

On Monday night Professor Longstreet announced that this was the last week they were going to learn a new dance. It was their sixth week of lessons and the Sixth and Seventh Years had definitely come a long way from their first dance lesson. They had become more confident in their abilities, they had better posture and their lines, Josie declared were nearly perfect for non-professionals. And that apparently was a high compliment from her.

"So, tonight we are going to teach you the Quickstep! After this week's lessons, the next two weeks will be used to practice for the competition. The couple representing each house will be selected at the end of Friday night's practice." Professor Longstreet said.

Lea and Sirius exchanged a look of relief. Hopefully they wouldn't be picked and they could finally relax a little bit.

However, Professor Longstreet had something entirely different in mind for the group. "After a dance off on Friday, Josie, Tomas and I will pick the best couple of each houses. BUT that doesn't mean the rest of you lot are off the hook. The rest of you will perform a dance, _as a group_, for the rest of the school."

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Either way they'd be dancing till the very end of time.

"We will explain more of this on Friday and next week, but we just wanted to give you a heads up of what is to come within the next two weeks." Tomas said to the group.

"And so! Tonight we will dance the Quickstep. It's the most light-hearted dance out of the ballroom dances, but it is also the one that will make you sweat the most." Josie began. Marlene wrinkled her nose and Remus chuckled.

"It's a very energetic dance and is very form-intensive. Dancers should be very light on their feet. There's a lot of 'running' around, hops, turns in this dance. Originally it began as a slower version of the Foxtrot and Charleston but as time wore on it quickly became more complicated because of the music's rhythm to it." Tomas explained.

"There are three basic steps in the Quickstep, the chasses, where the feet are brought together, you learned this in this in the Jive, the quarter turns and the lock step." Professor Longstreet said as Tomas and Josie took their positions.

A fast, jazzy number filled the room, it sounded like something from _Chicago_ or something, Lily thought (she adored musicals) and Josie and Tomas began dancing quickly and whirled around the dance floor. The students stepped back as instructors danced vigorously, Josie cart wheeled gracefully and went into a split, she lifted her arms up allowing Tomas to pick her up and spun her gracefully, her legs still in a split position. Lea watched him as he held his partner effortlessly, the woman looked like she was weightless.

They danced for another few minutes and as the song came to an end the students burst into applause.

"Are they really expecting us to do that?" Sirius whispered to Lea. She elbowed him in the ribs, "Quiet you, we've done every other dance leading up to this,"

"Yeah except the salsa," he sniggered. Lea stomped on his foot and he muffled a yelp.

"What the hell woman? I thought we were mates now!"

"We are, but I am still going to remind you of your stupidity!"

"By physically maiming me?"

"You are such a wuss!" she whispered giving his head a playful shove.

The Quickstep was harder than it looked. Although it comprised of three major steps, the dancers had to be in sync with each other in their chasses and it relied heavily on good form, like their instructors had told.

"Okay, so everyone take their positions again, and start with the lock step. And then let's move into a chasse," Josie instructed.

The music started up again and Lea and Sirius linked hands as they concentrated on the steps. They hopped together with their feet together once, and then hopped together opening their feet. Then they jumped to each other's side with their feet together in short, energetic steps. They were doing pretty well until Sirius tried to execute a quarter turn. He clumsily tried to turn her underarm and she bonked her forehead on his arm.

She winced slightly but shook it off. Sirius clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh Merlin, I'm sorry. Are you okay." She waved a hand.

"No pain, no gain, right?"

"You'd fit well on the Quidditch team," Sirius snorted. Lea shook her head vigorously. "Are you kidding me, that man is so fanatical about Quidditch that is scares the Bertie Bott beans out of me,"

Sirius laughed and took her hands again. "Lets try this turn again, partner,"

They practiced, made mistakes and slipped here and there. But they were getting better at it, and paid close attention to their posture.

Lea signalled for a break and went over to the table where several water pitches stood. He watched her go, studying her movements, eyes drinking in her body. Somehow they had bypassed the awkwardness of adjusting to actually being mates to becoming quite comfortable with each other. That surprised him a lot. Usually when he got to know a girl he ended up plotting on how to get said girl to go out with him. However he spent more time trying to figure out what exactly intrigued him about her. So far he hadn't gotten any answers.

Sirius couldn't resist but grab Lea's hand when she returned, drawing her closer to him. He lifted her off her feet and spun her around, a move he had learned during the Paso Doble. "Oi! What in Merlin's beard are you doing?" she demanded.

"I just want to practice the quickstep one more time," he said cheekily. Lea sighed.

"There's no music," she pointed out. "You're a music fanatic! You 're always telling Lily that you have your own personal gramophone playing in your head."

"Fine! God do you always get your way?"

"Most of the time," Sirius replied cheekily. She tugged at his hair and shoved him away from her but it was futile.

"Let's go!"

He grabbed her hands and dipped her low. Quickly as he had dipped her he brought her back up and spun her out, she stretched out one leg and extended her hand, arching her neck, remembering her instructor's words in her head. Sirius gripped her hand tight as he pulled her back in and she took his other hand in hers.

"Feet together and let's jump to the side of each other on three," Sirius instructed and she nodded.

By the end of the practice Sirius and Lea had more or less gotten the Quickstep. Towards the end they had even started to incorporate some more of the complicated moves Josie and Tomas had showed them. Sirius, being a guy and a Quidditch player had quite a competitive nature (nowhere near as competitive as James was) and he was pleased that they had managed to execute quite a good Quickstep at their first practice of it.

* * *

"Hey Lea?" a voice asked.

It was Wednesday night and Lea had just finished showering after dance practice. She was situated in at her favourite table in the Common Room, nicely set up with her assortment of books, ink and parchment. She was deeply immersed in her DADA essay when she looked up and saw no other than Sirius leaning on the edge the table.

"Well if it isn't my darling partner," she said sarcastically. Sure they were friends now, (weird friends who were close in some ways and in other ways not at all, there were still some days where Lea wish he would just shut himself up in a supply closet for his sake). But that didn't mean she wanted to spend every waking moment with his presence around her.

There was only so much of Sirius Black she could handle she reasoned. And already spending three hours of him, hands together, bodies close and all, was more than enough for her.

Where the fuck did those thoughts come from? Lea's mind screamed in surprise. She mentally had an aneurysm and pressed a finger to her temple.

"Aw jeez! I haven't even asked my question yet and you're already making a face!" he complained. Lea snapped out of her inner turmoil and pulled herself together.

"Sorry mate, been a looooonnngg day. What's up?"

"Can you proofread my Charms Essay? Remus usually does it but he's not feeling so well right now."

It was actually Remus' furry time of the month and he was in the Hospital Wing recovering from a rough night. Tuesday had been a rough night for all four of the boys actually and Sirius had the scratches and bruises to prove it.

Lea had a boatload of schoolwork to plow through and her mind wasn't being particular helpful to her. But she couldn't send him away after he had asked so politely. "Sure, give it here,"

Sirius handed it to her and for a few minutes there was nothing but silence and the faint scratch of her quill as she made some notes and corrections. When she had finished, Sirius grimaced at it. There were a lot of corrections.

"Aw man do I have rewrite the whole thing?" he made a face. Lea clucked her tongue and threw a bright red rubber eraser at him. "Use that, it's a magical ink remover,"

"How have I NOT known about this?" Sirius exclaimed. She bit back a chuckle and returned to her own work. He worked quietly and then after he finished, he leaned back in his chair.

"Are you always so serious when you study?" he asked. Her head shot up, an annoyed look on it.

"Sirius, do you not understand studying? It's not supposed to be fun. And yes, I am always this serious when studying."

He sighed, loudly, and dug out a pack of Exploding Snap cards and shuffled them casually.

"Okay stop studying, time for a break," Sirius abruptly said snatching her work away from her.

"HEY!" she shouted. Sirius reached over and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shut up! Do you want to wake up the whole House?" To answer this, she spit in his palm.

"Gross! What are you? Two?" He said disgustedly. Lea took this opportunity to snatch her work back.

"I am when I am in the presence of a whiny one-year old!" she retorted. Sirius just looked at her. "That is an irrational argument. One year-olds wouldn't be able to do much but crawl, lift their heads and if they feel really crazy, roll over on their back."

Lea raised her eyebrows. "Are you even hearing yourself right now?"

He shut up. Then he scowled at her. "Why do I always end up sounding stupider than you, even when you sounded stupid to begin with?"

"Sirius you need to learn that when the men in the little white coats in your brain appear, it means it's time to stop talking." Lea deadpanned.

"Play one game of Exploding Snap and I'll shut up and leave you alone," Sirius proposed.

She sighed, but shoved her books to make some space. "One game, Sirius." She warned.

"Done!"

* * *

Lea was deep in a middle of a highly vivid and confusing dream when her alarm clock went into a psychotic breakdown and shrilled at her. Yawning, she stretched out a hand and blindly felt for the offending object. She accidentally whacked a book off her bureau, sent her wand to the floor and knocked over a candle before finding the alarm clock.

"Stupid blasted thing," she muttered under her breath. Suppressing another yawn she swung her legs out of her bed and for a moment just sat there. It was so early.

Lea yanked on a pair of leggings and then pulled her sweatpants over them. Shoving her feet into her trainers she grabbed her wand before stalking out the dorm.

Sometimes, she seriously wondered, why she forced herself to run every day for an hour. At 5:15 in the morning. There were plenty of other times of the day, she had often reasoned, but did she really have the motivation to run at night? Or after pummelling her head with countless spells and all that what not?

No. She definitely did not have the motivation to run after lessons had ended. How people managed to play Quidditch after lessons was a miracle. In retrospect she often rued, her lack of motivation to be flexible in life, it would be a detriment if she ever wanted to be Healer. Every New Year she made a resolution to become more flexible in breaking out of her sometimes rigid routine, but for the last four years she had miserable failed at that.

Still, if she ever did become a Healer, she would be the first one in line to sign up for the graveyard shift.

It was _cold, _was her first thought when she stepped out on to the Quidditch Pitch. She groaned to herself and began stretching, eying the puffs of air her breath made with a look of pure hatred, as if it was their fault it was so blasted cold.

"Gooood mooooooorrrrrniiinnnnggg," a voice sung out.

* * *

_A/N: Only half the battle is won now that Sirius and Lea have become friends. It's nearly all uphill from here mates! Please review. :)_


	17. Mayor of the Friend Zone

_A/N: Well by now you all know how much I appreciate all of your support! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and words of encouragement. The muses were being rather kind, (prolli thanks to your reviews ;)) so here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please review. :)_

* * *

_"You waited too long and now you're in 'The Friend Zone'"_

It wasn't even 5:30, the day hadn't even begun, how could it have _possibly_ gotten worse?

Lea turned around with a resigned look on her friends. Little did she know that when she signed up for being mates with Sirius that he would be in her life all the time, every stinking minute of it.

But to her surprise she spied the round frame of James' glasses on the voice and her day brightened a smidgen.

However she saw another dark haired head behind James and her hopes of her day turning up were quickly dashed to the ground. Of course he would be with him. He was never seen without James, except in the rare occasions he was with her in the Common Room. Those two were like brothers.

"What the heck are you two doing here?" she asked tiredly. It was far too early to deal with one of them, but both of them. Impossible.

"Sirius here told me you ran around this time, so we decide to join you, the big Quidditch Match against Hufflepuff is this Saturday." James replied swinging his arms.

"And by "we" he really meant just him, he kind of shanghaied me into coming along." Sirius grumbled. "I know you like your space and having it to yourself for a little bit," he added. Lea gave him a look of surprise but her lips turned upward in a small smile.

"Well okay. But just to let you know, I don't talk when I run. It kind of defeats the purpose of running, if you're running properly, you shouldn't be able to talk," she said.

The boys nodded and she gave a brief nod herself. "Also, don't expect me to run at the same pace as you guys," she added before taking off.

Lea was practically sprinting. James and Sirius tore at her heels and barely caught up to her. She ran very fast on her first lap and then slowed down to nearly a shuffle which caught them by surprise. Then she began jogging at a faster space on her third lap.

It went on like that for a while. If there was any pattern to her running style the boys couldn't figure it out. Sometimes she ran very fast, then she jogged, she sometimes even walked, then she would sprint, taking off like a firecracker.

"Bloody hell what kind of running is this?" James panted as he and Sirius struggled to figure her pattern.

"Don't ask me mate, I'm just here cos you shoved me out of bed." His mate grumbled.

Towards the end, Lea slowed down and ran at a consistent pace for the last four laps. Sirius jogged ahead and nudged her.

"Yeah?" she breathed hard.

Something about her being out of breath, the breathiness of her voice, did something to him. It turned him on.

"Are you training for something or what? You run very bizarrely." He said.

She said nothing for a minute as she continued to run. "I run at different paces on different laps and different days." She replied. Lea slowed down to a walk as she had evidently, finished her work out.

"Some days, I run at a consistent pace for ten laps. Other days I only run five laps at a really quick pace and just walk the rest. It's good to keep things different for your body because if you keep repeating the same routine, your body gets used to it and there's nothing your body is working against. You're not doing it any favours, that's why I change up my pacing." Lea explained. She plunked her butt on the ground and stretched again.

"Gotcha." He took a seat next to her and James collapsed on his other side to the still dewy grass.

"Lea…are you training to become a marathon runner or something?" he said breathlessly. Sirius snorted and tousled his mate's hair. "No, she has a very good logic behind it."

"Don't bother. I'm sure she has a reason for everything," James said in a muffled voice.

"You should stretch James. You don't want to be walking bandy-legged around all day," Lea cautioned.

The three of them spent a few more minutes stretching and chatting idly before they made their way back into the castle. After finally reaching the Fat Lady and clamouring through the Portrait Hole (it was an extremely long walk from the Quidditch pitch to the Gryffindor common room, especially with all those moving staircases), James mumbled something about a shower and took off for the dorm leaving Sirius and Lea alone.

He watched her now, his sharp grey eyes greedily drinking her in as she untied her hair from it's loose bun and watched as a mass of dark curls spilled down her back. To his disappointment as quickly as she had let down her hair, she had retied it again, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. He would have liked to run his fingers through her curls, and wondered if they were as soft as they had seemed.

_Where the fuck did that thought come from?_ Sirius turned beet red and shook his head.

"Man it's only 6:30 in the morning and I've already seen more than enough of you," Lea grumbled.

"Oh come on, I know you secretly love me, we're the best of mates," Sirius said pushing his confusing thoughts aside. He slid an arm around her shoulders and she slid a sharp look at him.

"We aren't that friendly," she said taking his arm off her.

"Yet," he automatically corrected her. Geez! What was with him and the things he said today? Lea just looked at him.

Clearly, he was loosing his marbles. This girl had some weird effect on him, making him say incredibly stupid things.

"It's really early in the morning," he offered lamely. Suddenly Lea smiled, a real one, and to his utter surprise she tousled his hair in a friendly manner. "It's ok Black. I can't function properly either at this time and believe me, I have done my fair share of stupid things in the morning."

She left him at this and started to towards the girl's staircase.

"What kind of stupid things?" Sirius hollered at her. Lea turned around and gave him her "Mona Lisa" smile before shaking her head.

* * *

"Hey Lily?" a voice asked. Lily looked up from her homework and saw James looking a little nervous. She smiled at him. "Hey James, what's up?"

Since Hogsmeade they had grown closer. They held hands when no one was around and Lily would often run her hands through James's hair in an affectionate manner when they were alone on the couch studying or just relaxing. But she hadn't kissed him yet and they really hadn't gone public with their relationship status.

Did they even have a relationship status? She wondered. He hadn't officially asked her out to be his girlfriend yet and there was no way she was bringing up the question.

"I have a question to ask you," his voice interrupted her thinking. She held her breath. Was this the question she was waiting for?

"Sure," she said in a hopefully calm voice.

"I was wondering…if you'd like to go with me to the Winter Ball…as my date," he asked running a hand through his hair.

For a moment she was caught off guard. "What?"

"Um, I was wondering you'd be my date—" he started. Then Lily came to her sense and waved her hands. "OH no! Wait I get it. Wait. No. I'm confused. I thought we were already going."

James chuckled and tucked a red lock behind her hair. "Just because we're partners doesn't mean I can automatically assume that you'll go with me. For all I know someone has asked to the dance already. You are, by all means, within your right to dance the group dance or whatever with me, and then attend the Ball with someone else."

Lily had to admit, she was surprised. She would have never thought James would be so…considerate and thoughtful.

"So my point is, I'd like to formally ask you to be my date to the Winter Ball." He finished.

Lily smiled. He was too cute. "Yes. I would love to be your date to the Winter Ball, James," she replied. She then pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. In wonderment, his hand unconsciously flew to touch the spot where her lips had been.

"Great! Lily, we are going to have the best time, I promise," James said happily.

"I'll hold you to that," Lily teased. Then she added, "Thank you, James, for asking me. It was really sweet of you."

"I just want like to see you smile," He said in a sincere voice. Lily felt warmth spread through out her. How she ignored him for six years amazed her. He was full of surprises.

"I'll see you at dinner okay? Save me a seat next to you," she said gathering up her books. She was too excited to study any more.

James nodded, a wide grin on his face. Lily felt a smile of her own break out on her face and she touched him lightly on his arm before she disappeared up the Girl's Staircase.

* * *

"She said yes!"

Sirius rolled over on his bed and looked at James who had just burst into the dorm. Sirius had been dozing off whilst trying to read through his Potions assignment.

"Who?"

"Lily!"

"To what?" Remus inquired. He sat up on his bed and looked expectantly at his mate.

"To the dance!" James replied. He was practically bouncing on his feet.

"What dance?" Peter asked confused. He thought they were already going together anyway since they were partners.

"The End of School Year Dance! No stupid, the Winter Formal," James said flicking Peter on his forehead. He collapsed on his own bed and a goofy smile spread on his face.

"Wait, you asked your own dance partner to the Winter Formal?" Sirius asked laughing.

James sat up. "Yes. Just because we're dancing partners doesn't mean I could just automatically assume that we'd go together."

"I just find this whole thing amusing," Sirius replied still laughing. Remus however smiled at James. "That's really thoughtful of you Prongs. You're nearly all grown up,"

"I know! Who are you going with Mooney?"

"Probably no one," Remus shrugged. "Marlene has her boyfriend and I don't know anyone else to take. Last year Lea went as my date as a mate,"

"Maybe you can ask her again," Peter suggested. Remus nodded in agreement.

At this Sirius shot up from his position on the bed. "Whoa whoa whoa! You can't ask her, she's going with me!" He said.

The three of him looked at him. Finally James asked, "Have you officially asked her?"

Silence.

"No! But we're dance partners, we're friends, we're going," Sirius protested. Remus and Peter shook their heads.

"Mate, if you haven't asked her, then she's fair game for anyone, including Remus," Peter declared

"What?" Sirius yelled. Remus bit back a laugh. He was so into her and so oblivious to it.

"Besides, I think she's been asked by a few guys, I overhead Caradoc asking her again," Peter continued.

"What? That bonehead asked her to the dance again? He went with her to the last dance!" Sirius shouted.

"Calm down Padfoot. She said 'no'." Peter replied.

"Point is, I don't think she knows she's going with you mate," James sniggered.

"Okay fine, I'll ask her," Sirius huffed. He couldn't believe he had to do this. All this trouble for a girl. The things you do for friendship.

"I really hope you'll ask her as a mate, cos if you ask her as a date date, she'll prolli say no," Remus thought aloud.

"What do you mean she'll say no if I ask her to be my date?" Sirius asked indignantly.

The three of them looked at each other. Finally James spoke. "Well…Padfoot mate…you're friends with her."

"So?"

"Well that's just it. You just became friends. In fact, you've become quite good friends, which is a huge surprise to all of us, do you really think she sees that way?" Remus asked carefully.

"She said I'm good looking!"

"But does that doesn't mean she likes you that way. In fact, you focused on becoming friends with her so much that you kind of forgot about how the sexual attraction plays into it. And now, you've bypassed any chance to properly date her," Peter told him.

Sirius fell quiet. "What do mean I've bypassed my chance?"

"Mate, you're Mayor of the Friend Zone!" James declared.

"Mayor of the Friend Zone?" Sirius asked confused.

"Which means that basically you took a very different route when trying to become friends with her. I mean for Merlin's sake, you told her you wanted to be friends with her. You actually gave a whole entire speech of why you two should be friends. That pretty much sets the stage for her on how she wanted to proceed with that. And now I think she's pretty comfortable with being mates with you." Remus explained.

Oh my god. What had he done? Sirius thought to himself.

"Merlin's beard. I'm Mayor of the Friend Zone." He half whispered to himself. He was dumbstruck. Truly.

"Now the real question is, do you fancy her?" Peter asked shrewdly. Suddenly Sirius felt very uncomfortable.

"Well what good is that? I'm her mate now. And that's that." Sirius answered flopping back on his bed.

The boys exchanged looks.

"You're Sirius fucking Black. You always get the girl remember?" James tried to cheer him up.

Sirius shook his head. "No. It's not like that. Lea is the first mate of mine who is a girl. And further more, she's smart mates. She's smart, she's confidant and she can actually tolerate me. I may have started out wanting to get her to like me, but it's not like that any more. She actually makes me realise that I'm a jackass half the time."

"But we still like you, and she apparently accepts that of you," Peter said helpfully.

Sirius shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Being friends with her is a big thing for me. I don't even understand how you manage to be so close to her Mooney, she's so…"

"Untrusting?" Remus supplied. He knew Lea well.

"I was going to say wary. She doesn't give many people chances," Sirius replied.

"Yeah well who can blame her?" Remus said.

"What exactly happened with her and Fabian?" James wondered. Remus shook his head. "Not my story to tell. But let's just say it was a pretty stormy relationship."

Sirius was suddenly filled with a hatred for Fabian. If he had messed Lea up in some way…Sirius felt like punching his lights out which was ridiculous since he didn't even know him or the facts.

"You didn't answer the question though, do you fancy her?" James asked him again

Again Sirius fell silent. Did her like her?

"I don't know…" he began slowly thinking hard. He tried to analyse his feelings towards her. God this was pathetic. Now he was analysing his feelings?

"I mean, like I said, she's confidant, she's smart and she's beautiful yeah…her skin glitters…she's really independent. She doesn't need anything or anyone and I really like that about her. Sometimes it frustrates me, but at the same time I'd like to earn her approval so that she could sometime come to me if she needed anything…" Sirius thought aloud. He was barely aware of half the things he was saying.

Again, the three Marauders looked at each other. Their mate was clearly in love with her.

Sirius realised what he was saying. Christ almighty.

"Padfoot?" Peter asked after a moment of silence.

."…Yeah?" Sirius asked. He flopped back on the bed and threw an arm over his eyes.

"You, clearly are in love with her," James said in a matter of fact voice.

"Oi! I'm not in love with her!" Sirius said hotly. "I like her!"

Silence.

James, Peter and Remus looked at him smugly. He glared daggers at them.

"I know! I know!"

* * *

_A/N: Could anyone catch The Friends reference that was thrown in there? I hope you liked it. Please review!_


	18. First World Social Problems

_A/N: You all know how much I appreciate and love your support, especially your reviews! **Thank you** so much for it all. Enjoy and review. :)_

* * *

_"The way we see the problem **is** the problem"_

Sirius was acting weird, Lea thought to herself as she studied him over breakfast on Friday morning. He didn't say much and had nearly jumped three feet in the air when she had accidentally brushed against him when she said "Good morning,"

It wasn't her problem. She had bigger things to worry about.

Problem Number One: This "dance off" that was to determine the couple who would represent the Houses in the Winter Formal dance competitions tonight.

Problem Number Two: What the hell was she going to wear, she still didn't have a dress.

Problem Number Three: Who the fuck was she going with?

Problem Number Three had had materialized yesterday early evening after Lily had barged into the dorm with a dopey smile on her face and Marlene had inquired what had gotten Lily into a tizzy.

"James asked me to the dance!" She said happily. Lea sat up in her bed and looked at her mate with an amused expression.

"I thought you two were already going?" Lea asked.

"Just because we're dance partners doesn't mean we were automatically going to attend the dance together, that's what James said. So he asked me." She explained.

Marlene thought about this. It made sense. And in any case, Lily seemed over the moon over it so who was she burst her bubble?

"You're going with Benjy right Marlz?" Lily asked. She shrugged. "I don't know. We broke up."

"What?" Lea and Lily cried. This was news to them. Marlene tapped her wand against a bedpost. "We broke up a couple of weeks ago, actually it after Hogsmeade. At first everything seemed fine, but we both knew something had changed."

"OH Marlene! Are you all right? Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Lea exclaimed as she took a seat next to her friend.

Marlene looked at her and gave her a sad smile. "Because I didn't really want to deal with it, or think about it. Besides seeing everything go so well for Lily and James and Sirius and you becoming mates…I just didn't really want to get into it."

Lily took a seat on the other side of her and wrapped a hand around Marlene's. Lea slid an arm around her shoulder and the three girls sat there for several moments.

"So…who are you going to go with Lea?" Marlene asked finally.

Lea shrugged. "I don't know. Caradoc asked me but I said 'no'. I think he probably envisioned a repeat of what happened after the Halloween Ball. A couple of other blokes have asked but I don't know. I kind of like going solo to dances."

"What about your friend, Mr. Black?" Lily inquired biting the inside of her cheek. James had confided her one night that he suspected that his dark haired friend fancied her best mate.

"What about him?" Lea said in a "Don't mess with me" tone.

"You two are partners, you're friends…" Lily trailed.

"So?"

"You could go together." Marlene suggested.

"PA ha! No way." Lea shook her head resolutely. "We're friends. Sirius could get any girl he wants to go with him, he'll be wanting a girl who'll probably treat him to nice after party after the dance." She said in an acid tone.

Lily and Marlene exchanged looks. Was it just them or did they detect a hint of jealousy in their dark haired roommate?

"What?" Lea asked annoyed.

"You fancy him!" Marlene crowed. Lea got up from the bed and slapped her hands on her hips. "NO I do not. He is my mate. He annoys me. But he is still a mate. Not a date."

"Why do you hate him so much?" Lily wondered. Lea sighed and pressed a finger to her temple. "Did you not just hear me? I don't hate him any more, we're friends."

"Okay, so why have you essentially ignored him the last six years? You and Remus are so close, how come you never paid any attention to Sirius?" Marlene asked.

She didn't answer right away. Her roommates looked at her. Finally she said, "I can't really explain how Remus and I became so close…it might have to do with we have similar personalities, or really love reading and learning, or I don't know. With some people, you just kind of get a connection to them without really knowing them, and you become close." Lily looked at her as if she was nuts. Lea waved a hand.

"Did you guys ever date?" Marlene asked. Lea shook her head and smiled ruefully. "No. And we've bypassed any hopes of that, we're more like brother and sister now. He's always been there for me."

"So what about Sirius? Why didn't you become friends with him earlier?" Lily pressed on.

"When we were in Third Year, Remy sent Sirius to me to help him learn the Laughing Charm. We practiced until he got it and we were laughing our heads off. Then the galoomp had the nerve to kiss me, and he did. I was so mad that I punched his nose, I sent him to the Hospital Wing."

"You broke his nose?" Marlene sniggered.

"He kissed me!"

"So? Have you seen him? Even when he was thirteen he was gorgeous!" Marlene exclaimed. Lea rolled her eyes.

"That's why you ignored him? Because he kissed you?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"No! Well partly. It just galled me that he had the nerve to do it. It just proved to me that Sirius was an egotistical manwhore who pretty much went after girls without any regards to their feelings. He just took what he wanted. It really bothered me the way he used girls, and just discarded them!" Lea began ranting.

To be fair, she had a point, her roommates thought. Throughout the years Sirius had become a skirt chaser extraordinaire.

"I hated how he treated girls at this school. And I didn't want to become known as a floozy, or have association with him, even as friends. And whenever he was around, he always made these stupid sexual innuendos! God, it infuriated me. I mean, it's disrespectful and degrading."

"Yet you're the one who—" Lily began but Lea cut her off with a glare. "Look, I may indulge in some naughty activities with guys, but I don't lead them on, nor do I discard them like cards and I am very honest with my intentions with them, even if it's for a couple of hours."

"And that makes you better than him?" Marlene asked shrewdly.

"No." Lea shook her head. "It doesn't. But there's nothing wrong with being comfortable in your sexuality, but I don't go after blokes with the same abandon that Sirius does with girls. As long as both parties know clearly what exactly is going to happen then that, I'm okay with. Sirius treated girls like they were disposable and that pissed me off."

"So that's why you hated him?" Lily reasoned. Again Lea shook her head.

"No, that was just why I chose to ignore him. He didn't really seem like someone who I could be friends with, I mean, he never had a friend who was a girl before. So yeah, I didn't pay attention to him because he was always so needy for attention." Lea said tiredly. She really didn't feel like talking about Sirius.

"And now?" Marlene inquired. Lea shrugged and curled up on her bed. "I always thought he was so cocky, so needy for attention, he always appeared to get everything without putting any effort into it. But now, I don't know. I've come to realize that he's human, like all of us, and he's got his flaws and his doubts. He's actually tolerable when he's busy not making a fool of himself with some of the things he says. He's clever, funny, he's definitely got his good points."

"So you don't want to date him?" Lily finally asked in a soft voice. She sounded disappointed.

"No! I don't need distractions this year, especially in the form of boys! Besides, he doesn't see me that way. He told me very clearly from the beginning that he wanted us to be mates." She shook her head.

"So?"

"So what? I'm not going to make myself look like an idiot, and develop feelings for someone who will never return them. It would be clearly, a moot point. Besides, Sirius is a distraction all by himself whether you're his friend or not. _Believe me_." Lea grumbled. She pulled her Charms textbook off her dresser and began rifling through the pages.

Lily and Marlene exchanged knowing looks.

* * *

That had been a heavy conversation, Lea mused as she sipped her tea. She pretended not to see Lily's display of affection towards James as she kissed his cheek in greeting. That was new. Perhaps Lily was getting over her shyness of PDA.

Remus was sitting next to her and leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Did you see that?"

"Who couldn't?" she mumbled back. Remus' shoulders shook silently.

"Hey Remus," she asked after a moment.

"Yeah?" He replied without lifting his eyes off the _Daily Prophet_.

"Are you going with anyone to the dance?"

Remus thought carefully of what he should say in case she asked him to go with her. He knew Sirius had declared her as his date.

"No. But I had someone in mind," he answered half truthfully. And he did. But he couldn't do anything about it.

"Oh. Well I guess I'll just go by myself then," she replied hardly bothered.

"Marlene's going with Benjy right?" he asked in a would be casual voice.

"Nope, they broke up a couple of weeks ago." Lea answered with her nose buried in Jack Kerouac's _On The Road_.

"'What?" Remus asked surprised. Sighing Lea reluctantly looked at him. "Yeah. So maybe you could ask her as a mate or something. I hardly think she's ready to start dating right now."

"Yeah…maybe…" he replied a little unsure of what to do now. The girl he liked was free, but she had just broken up. What was he supposed to do?

* * *

Sirius made a decision that he would work up the guts to ask Lea to the Winter Formal before their dance practice tonight. That gave him a good four hours to prepare what he was going to say.

He was lying on his bed with his hands laced beneath his head. It was four o clock and they had finished their lessons. No one else was in the dorm at the moment. Closing his eyes he didn't hear the door squeak as it opened.

"Sirius?" a voice asked. His eyes flew open. What was she doing in his room?

Lea looked at him and held his scarf in her hands. He had forgotten that he had given it to her.

"Hey," he managed to get out. He sat upright in his bed and opened the bed hangings. She crossed over the room and held out the muffler. "Sorry I had this for so long, I kept forgetting that it was still with me. Thanks again for letting me borrow it."

He took the scarf from her, his fingers brushing lightly against hers, "Thanks and no problem."

"Okay well, I'll let you go back to your nap. I think I'll take one too before our big dance off," she replied already turning around.

"Lea wait," he heard himself say.

"Yes?" she asked facing him again.

"Are you going to the dance with anyone?" Sirius asked trying to remain composed.

"No. I was thinking of going alone after we performed all that dancing stuff," she frowned.

"Well, would you like to go with me?" he asked feeling his face warm up.

She just looked at him, her eyes unfathomable as always, and didn't say anything.

"Why are you asking me?" she finally asked him. Sirius did not expect his. Was she really going to make him wait in angst for her answer?

He gestured with his hands. "I don't know…we're dancing partners, and we're mates now…and I don't know. I thought it'd be nice if we went together." He said a little helplessly. He felt like a fish out of water.

Lea sighed and tugged at her bun. "As friends right?" she said after a moment.

Sirius felt a funny feeling go through him. Yeap. He was definitely "Mayor of the Friend Zone". And he hated it. He mentally face palmed himself.

"If that's what you want," he heard himself say. He could have thrown himself off a cliff right now. Merlin's silky boxers, what the heck was he saying?

Lea blinked. "Well, what do you want?" she boldly asked.

Caught off guard, Sirius was taken aback. This girl was full of surprises.

"I want whatever you're comfortable with," he replied after a pause.

Lea bit her lip in contemplation. Sirius scanned her face for any hint of emotion or an answer. He couldn't find any.

"Yeah, we can go to the dance together." She finally said. Sirius let out a breath he was unaware that he was holding. "Thanks for asking, I'll see you at dinner or something," and with that she quickly exited the dorm.

Sirius flopped back on his bed. The bright side was that she said 'yes'. The downside was that she had left it up to the air as to what they were going as. He wasn't sure if they were going as mates or as dates.

Just how the hell was he supposed to proceed now?

* * *

_A/N: Haven't we all been there before, trying to figure out the line between friends and more than friends, and when, exactly to cross that line? Please review.:) xoxox_


	19. Assassins Tango

_A/N: By now all of you know how much I love and appreciate your support and reviews. You guys rule. Enjoy and please review. :)_

* * *

_"My brain is hanging upside down,"_

Dinner was a subdued affair for Sirius; his mind was too busy thinking of what had just happened in the past few hours. Never did he ever imagine he would be feeling like this, over a girl.

Stupid dancing lessons. If they had never been forced to partake in them, he wouldn't be partnered with Lea, he would have never developed these stupid feelings for her and he would have never been in this stupid situation that he was in now.

He was Sirius fucking Black. The ball was always in his court when it came to girls. Always. And now? The ball was not only way out of bounds, it was clearly nowhere to be seen!

He could have slapped himself for the predicament he was in.

It was as if he was on his way to his death sentence, by the way he dragged his feet to Friday night's dance lessons. He had actually been looking forward to their practices since Lea and him had become mates (not that he would ever admit this to anyone), but after what happened in the afternoon he felt suddenly quite uncomfortable around her.

He simply did not how to act around her.

_Pull yourself together Black. It's just dance practice and she's just a girl. A girl who is your friend. _

_A girl, who is your friend. A girl friend. A girl friend._

_A girl. Friend._

Lea came up next to him and said, "Evening Sirius,"

_Hey it's your girlfriend!_

Sirius mentally face palmed himself.

Professor Longstreet and their dance instructors quickly ushered them through their usual stretching and warm up. Sirius' mind was a million kilometres away while he and Lea practised their Quickstep and revisited the Jive. He spun her slowly, his hand lightly resting on the small of her back and his eyes roved over her features.

It still amazed him that he had never really paid attention to what she looked like properly before. Now he couldn't take his eyes off her. Every chance he got he found himself studying her, committing her to memory. He wanted to capture her in a photograph, carve her in stone, preserve her in a painting. If he had any artistic talent, by god he would have.

Instead he contented himself to memorizing her, immortalizing her in his head. Sometime when they danced they were so close he could see the faint scar that snaked down from her left eyebrow and disappeared past her temple. He often wondered how she got it.

"Okay! Now that we're all warmed up, here's what going to happen tonight. Tonight, the four couples will be selected to represent the Houses in the competition at the Winter Formal. All of you will be dancing and Josie, Tomas and I will go around observing each of the couples and we will select the couple who we think dances the strongest. "

A murmur went through the students. Lily raised an eyebrow. There seemed to be something off with this whole judging thing. If they were going to pick the couples to represent the Houses, who was going to actually judge them?

Josie seemed to have read her mind. Smiling, she added, "We won't be judging you during the actual competition. Instead you will have three other judges, who will not be named, they will serve as judges. We are going to be your trainers and help you develop your choreography."

"Choreography?" Marlene mouthed to Remus. He shrugged with a bewildered look on his face.

"Now I know this may sound a little confusing but we will explain things as we go along. For now, each of you will have twenty minutes to practice a Latin dance of your choice. Pick a dance you feel are the strongest and don't even think about trying to slack off in hopes of not getting picked. Each of you has the chance to win two hundred points for your house." Professor Longstreet said sternly.

Peter rolled his eyes. Great now he was going to actually have to try.

"So put on your dancing shoes and start practising, dance to impress!" Josie laughed.

Resignedly Lea turned and put her hands on her hips. For a moment she just studied her partner. He looked at her.

"Do you ever get the feeling that our Professors are just sitting in the Staff Room with their feet up on the desk and laughing their heads off at us and our predicament?" He asked her.

"OH yeah. Someone is definitely laughing their asses off at our expense," she replied. Sirius gave her a wan smile.

"So what dance do you want to practice? Please don't say the salsa because I still cannot get my upper half to stop moving," she continued.

He chuckled and placed a hand lightly on her waist and took her other hand in his. "How about," he took a step and she mirrored him. "We practice the tango," he dipped her low, "We seemed to be okay with that," he finished as he lifted her up and then spun her out.

She went into a split, (he had been surprised that she was that flexible) and let go of his hand. Then she stretched both of her arms up and Sirius went behind her and grabbed her hands again, and slowly lifted them up. It was a move that they had learned during the Paso Doble.

"Smooth move Lea," he said appreciatively as he spun her around to face him. She smiled. "Thanks. Let's practice our steps, we need to make sure our kicks are sharp when we step around each other."

For the remaining fifteen minutes, they danced around the floor, concentrating on their techniques. Lea had her back arched back so that her lower half was more angled towards Sirius, and Sirius tried really hard to keep a respectable distance between their lower half's. He did not his body to embarrass him right now. To top it off, her head was tilted back so that her neck was exposed in all its smooth and creamy glory. Sirius swore to himself.

"What?" her voice floated up from her position. Fuck, did he say that out loud?

"Nothing, you're doing really well." He smoothly said. He pulled her up right and spun her out quickly.

"Did the Potion fumes get to you too today Sirius? You're being awfully nice," she said biting back a smile.

"I can be a nice guy," he shrugged. Lea felt a faint tug of uneasiness at that. He was way too serious to be joking around.

She brushed it off and put it that both their nerves were a little on edge because of the dance off that was to come in a few minutes.

"All right, will everyone please listen to me!" Tomas clapped his hands. The students stopped dancing and looked at him. Suddenly a palpable excitement could be felt in the air.

"First of all, I want to say, that again, we're extremely pleased with the progress that you lot have made. Second of all, remember, those who aren't selected to represent their House, you will have an ensemble dance to perform for the school. That too will be judged, for an additional one hundred points."

Somebody whistled in the crowd.

"So to sum it all up, there is a potential for a House to win three hundred points if the ensemble dances and the solo dance is judged to be best. And even if it's not, there is still a chance to win one hundred or two hundred points respectively." He finished.

The degree of excitement increased. Three hundred points!

"Okay, if now all of you could be so kind to take your places. Spread out on the dance floor and be careful not to knock into each other. We will play a Latin song that is relatively neutral, don't worry about dancing in time to the music, it's just there as background noise. You will be dancing for about five minutes which may seem short to you, but believe me, it can seem like an eternity." Josie grinned.

Sirius took Lea by the hand and took them a little farther away from the other couples. He didn't let go of her hand and Lea looked down at their linked hands. Something was definitely off with Sirius, she was sure of it.

She was going to comment on this but then the first strain of music floated around them and he turned to face her. Instead she said, "Sirius,"

"What?"

"Don't do anything stupid," she told him a serious voice. He nodded.

* * *

Both of them had their game face on when they stepped closer together. They began to move and Sirius lifted her up slightly and she kicked up her heels. Just as quickly he brought her down and she came closer to him than she had ever came before.

They moved sideways across the dance floor, their lower half's swivelling dangerously close as their legs alternatively kicked the empty spaces between them. Then Sirius and Lea both went into a lunge and Lea nearly reeled back at the intensity that radiated off of Sirius's face. Then they slowly rose and faced forward as they again began to move forward in a series of kick. Every alternate step they looked at each other as they made their way across the dance floor.

Then Lea stood still and sunk on one hip as Sirius danced around her in a circle. He executed three spins in quick succession and then grabbed her hand again and they again moved rapidly in a sideways line.

Lea stretched out into a lunge and Sirius stepped between her outstretched leg and she slowly swung her leg out in front of her and Sirius lifted her up again to a standing position. Then she stood in front of them and swung her leg in between his legs as they had been taught.

Sirius hand had moved further up her backside and he linked his entire arm around her in a tight grip as he lifted her up and she stretched out her leg as he spun her around.

He was so close to her and she could smell the sweat mixed in with the now familiar scent of aftershave and that damn incense. Normally it didn't bother her but tonight it did something to her.

It was, without a doubt, one of their best dances they had practised or done really. Throughout their practices, yeah they had tried to pay attention to their technique and posture, but their dances had always been punctured by their initial annoyance to each other, and then they often got off track by getting into in depth discussions about the most random things.

But tonight they danced differently. There stakes were high and they weren't going to throw a chance to win them should they be picked.

Now, Sirius finally understood why people called dancing an art. Never had he seen a girl look like this. He always used the words "fit" or "pretty" or "hot" when described a girl.

But she wasn't any of those words.

She was beautiful and while that thought may make him blush, his conscious whole-heartedly agree.

How he had overlooked her for so many years still astounded him. He was such an idiot.

The five minutes seemed like a lifetime and then the music faded. Sirius slid his hands down to her waist and then just held her there for a moment.

She didn't say anything nor did she look at him. Instead she focused on his neck. That was a bad choice too. Olive skinned and glistening with sweat, he seemed so alive. He positively oozed sensuality.

They were jerked out of their respective (and inappropriate) thoughts when Professor Longstreet clapped his hands.

"Well done all of you. Tonight we saw some really impressive moves and got a great attitude from everyone. I appreciate most of you taking this seriously."

"With that being said, if all of you will look up, you will notice a coloured orb hovering above you. If it's a green orb, please step off to the side."

Lea and Sirius looked up and saw a red orb instead. Sirius began to experience a sinking feeling in his stomach. Of course…this didn't mean…

"Those of you who remain centred on the dance floor, take a look around."

Resignedly Sirius cast a glance around him and met Lea's eyes. She seemed to share her sentiments. Besides them, Narcissa Black, Rabastan Lestrange, Emmeline Vance, Caradoc Dearborn, Timothy Ferguson and Lilah Greene stood with equally dismayed expressions.

"Congratulation! The four couples who remain will represent your House in the solo dance competition!" Josie announced cheerfully.

Wearily Sirius raked a hand through his sweat-matted locks. Lea looked at him with almost a tender expression.

"Well…I guess having our game face on worked the,…" she finally said. Sirius let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

"Yeah it did. So much for me not doing anything stupid."

"You guys are dancing for us!" Marlene squealed as she came up to them with Remus in tow. Lily and James joined them. Three other Sixth Year Gryffindor couples also came up to them.

"Hoorah," Sirius said sarcastically. Up until now he was more or less enjoying the dance practice. But since he realized that he in fact liked his partner as more than as a friend and now apparently going with her to this stupid Formal, he felt like the more time he spent with her, the chances of him saying something incredibly stupid and ruining their newly established friendship would increase by ten fold.

"Yeah well you guys better bust your ass for the Group Dance part of the contest," Lea grumbled. She took a seat on the ground and Sirius followed in suit but instead he just stretched his entire body on the ground. He crossed an arm over his eyes.

"You okay there Sirius?" Lily asked. He mumbled something that no one could hear. Lea patted him on his stomach lightly and felt an interesting definition of muscle. "Yeah he's fine. Don't worry about him, that's the job of his fan club."

"Shut up Lea," he grumbled with arm still over his eyes. James toed him with his foot.

"Get up soldier."

"Sod off,"

Remus' brows drew in confusion. Sirius seemed a little irritated right now.

Lea sensed this too and lightly said "So what now?" to the Gryffindors.

"We bust our ass's trying to win this bloody competition!" James declared.

* * *

_A/N: did anyone catch the Friends reference in there? (Yes, I adore that show). Now the real fun begins as the temperature will slowly begin to increase between our dear hero and heroine. Please review! xoxo_


	20. Kisses and Antlers

_A/N: I love and appreciate your support and reviews. Thanks **so** much. Enjoy and please review. :)_

* * *

_"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival,"_

-C.S. Lewis_  
_

Sirius didn't say anything to anyone after Friday's dance practice. Instead he had gone straight up to the dorm and then went right to bed. His brain couldn't handle the recent developments that had transpired throughout the day and night and on top of that, he had a bloody Quidditch match tomorrow.

So he buried himself under his covers, muttered an oath or two at the big man who ran the world and then screwed his eyes shut.

When Lea woke up on Friday morning, she faced Three Big problems. Usually as the day wears on, one expects that one or two problems might be solved. That wasn't the case this time. When she flopped onto her bed on Friday Night, she now faced Four Big Problems.

Problem Number One: She and Sirius were the House Representatives for the Solo competition.

Which lead to Problem Number Two: Now she had to spend MORE time around him by herself.

Problem Number Three: She _still_ did not the faintest clue what she was supposed to wear now, now that _she_ was dancing in the solo competition.

Problem Number Four: Sirius was acting strange, and it was mostly around her. Now it was her problem too.

She could have clobbered him.

Lea didn't blame the dance practice as her source of her problems. Formal Dances always posed a problem for her when it came to dresses. No, she actually had begun to enjoy herself in their practices and it was just a bonus that she became a little more toned.

No. She blamed Sirius. _He_ was the source of all her problems.

Instead of being rational and trying to figure out solutions to her problems or whatever, she decided to throw herself into her load of weekend homework. She plowed through her Charms essay, read her DADA chapters that were assigned and tackled her Arithmancy assignment.

Crunching numbers and letters made her feel better about the current state of her life. There was something ironic in finding peace in studying divination through numbers.

Lea worked steadily throughout the night as the Common Room became emptier and emptier and the clock struck later and later. By three in the morning she was the only soul downstairs and was surrounded by books, quills, and discarded pieces of parchment. Her eyes felt bleary and itchy. She sat back in her chair.

Sirius fucking Black.

He was so…..ugh she couldn't even find a word to describe what he was her. Was he anything to her?

He was her mate, she'll give him that. And he had been the one to bring up the idea and took the initiative to ask her to accompany him to Hogsmeade.

Unconsciously a smile spread over her face at the memory of that Saturday. That had been a nice day. She had had a good time.

He seemed to be on her mind a lot lately. She wondered why.

Lea got up and stretched her back and then took a seat on the couch and stared broodingly into the dying embers of the fireplace. It was times like these where she fleetingly wished she had company. Not many of her friends in Hogwarts staid up late like she did.

But then again not many of them were insomniacs either. Lucky gits.

Almost against her will, she could feel her eyes begin to close. She shook her head and forced herself to stay awake. If she fell asleep now, she would never be able to get up to run. Sighing, she stood up and gathered up her books and parchment and whatnot. She decide that she'd simply go for a run now and then sleep for a good ten hours afterwards. She didn't care about Quidditch so much and sleeping through it didn't bother her.

It was 4:30 by the time Lea staggered back into her room dripping of sweat and exhausted. She stripped off her clothes and yanked an oversized t shirt over herself. She was so tired she could hardly think straight and crawled into bed. Sooner or later a solution would present itself to her problems.

At least, that's what she hoped.

* * *

Sirius had a grim expression as he marched out onto the Quidditch pitch shouldering his broom.

He had nothing on his mind at the moment except for hammering the Hufflepuffs into the ground.

That and his dance partner.

Who, by the looks of it, as he scanned the faces of the Gryffindor section, wasn't there. He felt a funny feeling in his stomach but waved it off. Now was not the time to be a pansy and feel offended that she wasn't there in the stands.

But then again, she had every right not to be in the stands, it wasn't she was his girlfriend or anything.

Though she _should_ be.

Merlin's beard! Look at him, he was brooding about the thing he didn't want to brood about!

Pull yourself together Black, his brain told him sternly.

Sirius spotted Lily's fiery red locks in the stand sitting next to Marlene and Remus. She waved at him and he waved back with a small smile on his face. It made him happy to see her there for James. Of course she had attended matches before but this time he had a feeling that, she was there for his mate for a different reason.

"All right team," James said to his team mates. They drew in a close huddle and James gave them his usual spirited pep talk. After that they mounted their brooms and kicked off the ground, rising in the air to take their positions. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and signalled the match to begin. Hufflepuff would start with the Quaffle first.

Trey Gilbert threw the Quaffle through the air in attempt to reach on his team mates but James intercepted it and raced towards the opposite side of the pitch.

And they were off.

The match was fast paced and there was a bit of foul play from the Hufflepuff side which was a surprise. They played hard, but the Gryffindors played harder and that was evidenced by the roars of the Gryffindors as Jamie Bell grabbed the snitch.

They had won.

"We won! FUCK YEAH WE WON!" James yelled as he circled down to the ground. His team mates followed him and they piled up on each other in good spirits. Students were flooding the grounds coming to congratulate or console the players and there was loads of chattering and laughing going on.

"Aaaahhhh good job you guys!" Marlene exclaimed grinning. She hugged James and Sirius. Marlene by far was the most affectionate of the three girls.

"Thanks Marlene," Sirius smiled and pushed a lock of hair away from his face.

"Well played Prongs, I won ten galleons from Caradoc over in Ravenclaw," Remus laughed as he clapped his mate on the back.

"Give me five of it, I've earned it!" James replied. Remus shook his head.

"Where's Lea?" Sirius asked in a would be nonchalant voice. He was curious, everybody else from their gang was there.

"Oh she's probably still asleep. She was up really late last night and didn't get to bed until four or five or so. She was dead asleep when we shook her for breakfast." Marlene answered.

Sirius mumbled something in response. No one paid attention to him because Lily had just come up to the group. She threw her arms around James shrieking "WE WON! CONGRATULATIONS!"

James laughed and picked her up and swung her around in a full circle. Remus grinned happily at the duo and Marlene nudged him. They both exchanged amused looks.

James set Lily down but she kept her arms around his neck. She smiled widely up at him. Their faces were so close, she could have counted every freckle that was dusted on his nose.

A decision had to be made. They had been circling around each other for weeks now and it was time to land.

So she pulled his face closer to his and pressed her lips to his.

Cheers and whistles erupted around them. Sirius' jaw dropped open and Marlene squealed and clutched Remus' arm who was having an minor heart attack of his own when she did that. Peter looked dumbstruck but then he clapped.

Lily saw fireworks erupt as she kissed him. He was warm and alive and vibrated under her touch. She had never felt like this.

James pulled back from her, breathless and looked at her deeply. "Lily?"

She didn't have an answer for him. Instead he just felt her pull him closer to her, kissing him hard, her hands tangling in his hair and he closed his eyes and savoured the moment.

"WOOOHOOOOOOOOO!" someone shouted.

"Finally," Sirius muttered to Peter who nodded in agreement. The couple broke apart and grinned dopily at each other.

"PARTY IN THE COMMON ROOM TONIGHT!" James shouted. Cheers erupted again from the Gryffindors.

"Oh great that means we're on food and drink duty," Remus grumbled to Peter. Marlene overheard him and looked at him. "What?"

"Don't worry about it, just be there," Peter assured her. She nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything."

* * *

Sirius collapsed in his bed after the match. He was exhausted.

He slept for a good three hours and then got up and showered. He sat staring at the pile of books and homework that glared back at him. He sighed.

James and Lily were nowhere to be found (probably locked up in a broom supply closet or some place equally dark), Peter and Remus were busy working their magic and procuring supplies for the party and he had no idea where Marlene was.

He could go to the library and try to work through this gigantic pile of work by himself. Or he could go and study with some company.

He opted for the second option.

He swept his books and parchment into his bag and grabbed his broom again. Damn whoever ruined it for all guys trying to visit girls in their dorms. it wasn't easy climbing up a slide.

He knocked politely on the Seventh Year's dorm door. "**ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. FREE THINKERS ONLY**" said a sign that was tacked on the door. He bit back a smile. He had a feeling who might have put that up.

When no one opened it or replied, he shrugged and quietly entered the room. Looking around he saw it was empty. Then he spotted a dark haired head on a pillow through the bed hangings.

Sirius paused. On one hand, he should let her sleep. He knew she never slept well and to sleep for a solid six hours was an accomplishment. But for ten or more hours? It would be a Quidditch Word Cup feat.

On the other hand he wanted to talk to her and just spend time with her. He decided to take the risk and shook her gently.

"Lea," he said softly. She didn't answer. He shook her harder and said a little bit louder, "Lea!"

No answer. This time he gave her a good shove and nearly shouted, "LEA!"

She turned her head and cracked open a mind. When she saw who it was her eyes widened.

"Sirius!" He was in her room. This was surreal.

"Lea I want to study," he told her.

"So?"

"I need a studying partner! I can't tackle Potions alone. It will eeeaaaaaattt me."

"Sirius, it's…" she glanced at the clock. Crap it was four in the afternoon.

"Four pm" he told her. She groaned and pulled her covers over her head. He tapped her head with his wand.

"Yes. A disgraceful time to be getting up, so get up and turn on that smart brain of yours,"

"My brain never turns off. That's why I never can sleep properly," she grumbled under the covers. He chuckled.

"Any case, get up, I need your help with this Herbology homework as well." He told her.

Lea reluctantly peeked her head from under the cover and looked at him. Her eyes were clear of sleep now. "I often forget that Aurors in training need to take Herbology."

"Yeah me too, I still don't even know why we have to take it, and I'm not an Auror in training yet, I'm hoping to become one. Still have six months to go."

"You'll be one," she replied confidently without thinking about what he said. Sirius felt a childish feeling of pleasure at this vote of confidence in his abilities.

"Thanks. So, lets get crackin at it. I want to finish this stupid essay before the party tonight."

"What party?" Lea asked with a confused look.

"Oh the impromptu party that James and the rest of the Quidditch team are throwing because of today's win." Sirius replied waving a hand.

"You guys won? Why didn't you tell me?" Lea exclaimed she sat straight up in bed. She glared at him accusingly. He smiled.

"You would have found out sooner or later," he shrugged.

"But not from you! C'mon you're one of the main players on the team!"

"Okay, so we won, 335 to 150."

"Well. Good job." She said finally. She wasn't sure if she should hug him or punch him. She settled for nudging his arm gently.

"Thanks. Anyway, let's get studying." He brusquely said. Lea was surprised at his tone of voice but thought nothing more about it. "Hold on there partner, let me shower first. I can't function properly without showering. It's like coffee for me."

"Okay fine I'll just wait here." He grinned widely at her and spread himself over her bed. She whacked him with her pillow. "Like hell you will! Get out of here Black, I'll meet you downstairs."

"Make me," he challenged. Lea tossed him a withering glare. She sighed and got out of bed and snatched her wand up. For a moment Sirius just stared at her. She was just wearing an oversized t-shirt and as far as he could tell, that was it besides her underwear.

Then he gasped in surprise as she shot a well-placed Jelly Leg's curse at him and he immediately tried to get up but instead just collapsed to the floor. He growled at her.

"What was that for?"

"For looking at me like that you idiot!" She stalked towards the bathroom.

Sirius grabbed the bedpost and his legs wobbled beneath him as he tried to gain a hold of himself. He could have hexed her to the moon for this.

"I'll meet you downstairs! And I'll be taking an exceptionally long shower since you were such an arse, and plus I think it'll give you ample time to make your way down the staircase with your jelly like legs." She called out through the door.

* * *

Sirius swore.

Studying with Lea was one of the stupidest decisions he had ever made. Sure, he had finished his Herbology Essay and he even got a head start on his DADA homework with her help, but throughout the entire time he was too busy thinking of her half the time.

And it didn't help that her hair was still wet from her shower and he could smell the scent of her shampoo wafting from her head.

Girl's sole purpose on this earth, Sirius decided, was to kill guys in as many ways as possible.

And this one, had extra skills when it came do doing it. She must have been God's special agent.

"Sirius! FOCUS!" Lea threw a balled up piece of parchment. It bonked off his forehead and he blinked.

"What did I do?" he asked bewildered.

"Nothing! That's the point! I asked you a question about the homework and you're just staring off into space!" she exclaimed.

"I can't concentrate on anything anymore. Studying is done for the day. It's Saturday!" Sirius slumped in his seat.

"We've only done two and half hours of homework!" she threw out her arms in exasperation.

"Exactly! That's more than enough on a weekend day!" Sirius said loudly.

"That's nothing! What are you going to do when the NEWTs come—" she suddenly lost her voice. Her eyes narrowed at him. He had put a Silencing Charm on her. The bastard.

Sirius smirked at her and Lea got up took out her wand and pointed it at him. He suddenly was blasted backwards out of his chair and landed on the floor a couple of feet away.

Thank Merlin for non-verbal spells, Lea thought.

Sirius shot daggers at her. Two could play at this game. He directed his wand at her and a jet of light blasted out of the end of it. She ducked and rolled under the table where she shot another spell at him.

Sirius was hit by a Tickling Curse and felt his sides shake from the tickling. It was painful actually. He gasped for breath. Lea came up to him and snatched his wand from him. His eyes bugged at her.

Lea towered over Sirius and folded her arms on her chest. She contemplated him for a moment. He looked ridiculous. Lea shook her head and motioned to her throat and then her mouth.

Sirius stubbornly shook his head. No way was he lifting the silencing charm off her now. God knows what she'd do to him then.

Lea sighed. He was going to make this difficult. Well he only brought this on himself. She put his wand on the table and then directed another hex at him.

_Anteoculatia. _

Sirius' silky locks had turned into antlers. Holy mother of God, this girl was evil.

She was pure evil.

_SHE HAD GONE AFTER HIS HAIR._

His mouth dropped open in surprise. He shrieked. He shrieked like a first year girl who had seen her first ghost.

"LEA!" he jumped to his feet. She grinned manically at him. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU."

She laughed silently and snatched up his wand and waved it tauntingly at him. She motioned to her mouth again and gestured to him. He shook his head vigorously. With or without her voice, this girl could inflict some serious damage.

"I'm going to murder you in your sleep you little piece of—" he was cut off as he ducked another curse from her.

Lea decided to change tactics and pocketed his wand. Instead she turned around and charged him like a bull.

Caught off guard Sirius was knocked to the ground as she tackled him. She sat on top of his chest, her knees on either side of him and she pressed her thumb to his Adam apple. Sirius wheezed and gasped for air.

She wasn't just weird. She was half psychotic.

Lea pointed to her mouth again and cocked her head. Sirius stared at her. She pressed down harder on his throat and felt him squirm under her.

Okay, maybe more than half psychotic.

Her eyes were as unreadable as ever. Sirius glared at her. She shrugged.

Finally Sirius nodded in defeat. He motioned for his wand. Lea's eyes narrowed at this.

"_You better lift this spell fucker_," she mouthed at him. He nodded and reached for his wand. She held it out of his reach.

"_Promise me you'll life this spell, PROMISE_." She mouthed again. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I promise! I promise! Gimme my wand you crazy lady," he gasped. She finally acquiesced and passed it to him.

Sirius pointed the wand at her and lifted the Silencing Charm off her.

"YOU MORON!" was the first thing Lea bellowed. She punched him with her small fists.

"Get off me and give me back my hair!" he retorted.

"No, I think you'll be the life of party with antlers. After all it's the holiday season!" she said gleefully.

Sirius had had enough. With great dexterity and speed, he lifted his upper half and then grabbed Lea's waist and then flipped them over.

Now he sat on top of her and had her pinned to the ground. Triumphant he smirked at her.

"Now whose in charge?" he gloated. Lea just looked at him. She pointed her wand and Sirius was hit with a Disarming spell and flew to the opposite end of the room. He crashed on a couch and fell backwards over it.

Winded he just lay there. Lea strolled up to him and peered down at him.

For a moment Sirius just stared at her.

"Fuck, you're a really good witch," he finally said.

She smiled at him.

* * *

_A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed their petit jeu a jeu with our loveable (if not ridiculous) characters. Be good and please review! xoxoxo_


	21. The Naughty Samaritan

_A/N: Thank you **so** much for all of your support, encouragement and **reviews**. Your reviews really help me write faster and keep updating sooner rather than later. It was snowing today and which made it a nice cozy day to curl up in bed and finish this chapter off. Enjoy and please review!_

* * *

"_She got the power in her hand, to shock you like you won't believe_,"

-Electric Feel, MGMT

The party was in full swing by 9:30. The Common Room was crowded with people, sweet wrappers littered the tables along with empty butterbeer bottles. Peter and Remus had done an amazing job procuring supplies for the impromptu party, having gone to the Kitchen and had made a discreet underground tunnel run to Hogsmeade.

People were laughing, dancing, chatting. In general everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Lea was perched on top of a table with an empty butterbeer bottle hanging loosely from her hands. Remus eased himself next to her and took a swig from his own bottle.

"Having fun?" He asked smiling.

"Lily hijacked my record collection," Lea grumbled as she heard the familiar strains of "The Immigrant Song" began playing.

"Who is this?" He asked tapping his foot to the music.

"Led Zeppelin!" she looked at him with astonishment. "C"mon Remy! I played you some stuff last summer!"

"You played a lot of music to me last summer! And the summer before that, and the summer before that!" He exclaimed. She shook her head and placed her bottle behind her on the table.

"So how was the big kiss?" Lea inquired. Remus smiled at the memory of it. "It was…big I suppose. She just came up and threw her arms around him, he spun her around and then she just kissed him."

"I can't believe she kissed him in front of all those people!" Lea said.

"I know! Our little Lily is all grown up," Remus chuckled. Lea elbowed him good-naturedly.

They sat there chatting whilst watching the happenings of the party. People watching was one of their favourite things to do, and people watching at a party was entertaining.

Lily and James were sitting together on the couch laughing and playing Exploding Snap with some of the Sixth Years. Peter by some fantastic luck was talking with a fifth year girl and by the looks of it she was giving him her full attention. Sirius (antler free now) was surrounded by a gaggle of females who were giggling themselves silly just being around him.

Lea rolled her eyes at this. God the way some girls threw themselves at him…he was just some bloke.

He caught her eye and Lea laughed quietly seeing his annoyed expression. She remembered him telling her that the fan club actually scared him.

"Maybe you should be nice and rescue him," Remus pointed out mildly. He had caught them staring at each other.

"He's a big boy…" she mused as she watched people dance.

"Can't you be a good Samaritan for once and just help him out?" Remus pushed. She tugged at his hair and retorted, "Remind me why I'm mates with you again?"

"Cos you love me," he replied cheerfully.

"You know at times like these, I reaeeeaaaaallly question whether or not I do,"

"Go and be nice," Remus gave her a little shove off the table and she muttered something before making her way towards Sirius.

* * *

Sirius was having a difficult time extracting himself from the twittering girls around him. There was too much of cleavage, too much of hair and too much of perfume around him. And it made him really uncomfortable that a good number of these admirers were fourth and fifth years. He turned eighteen in two months for pete's sake.

He had seen Lea and Remus laughing and talking earlier and felt a pang of jealousy at seeing her so at ease with one of his best mates. He wished that he were in Remus' shoes at that moment. Actually he wished he were one of those people in Lea's world where they talked like that all the time.

Sirius mentally slapped himself again for being such a pansy when it came to Lea.

Then he heard her voice call his name and he thanked his lucky stars that he had been partnered with her.

"Sirius!" she called out again as she made elbowed her way through the girls. He felt a ray of relief wash over him.

"Excuse me, pardon me, oopsies, sorry," Lea commented as she shoved her elbows more harder than needed into some girls. They threw her dirty looks and she looked innocently back at them.

"Hey Sirius, Remus and I were wondering if you'd like to join us in a round of Charades, Lily and James are in too," she told.

"Yeah! I'm game!" Sirius replied breathing a little easier. She smiled at him and shook her head slightly. He returned her smile with a grin of his own. She waggled her fingers at him and motioned for him to follow her. She began to stick out her elbows again as she prepared to make her way through the crowd. But before she took another step Sirius grabbed her hand and held on to it. He held his breath for a moment and hoped she wouldn't let go.

To his utter surprise, he felt her hand grip his hand tighter in her own. Her hand was small and cool and he held on tightly as she led their way through the crowd.

* * *

He collapsed on a chair near the table where Remus was now talking to Marlene. Lea took up her seat on the table again and swung her legs back and forth.

"Are we really going to play charades?" Sirius asked.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, Remus here pushed me into performing a good deed for the day, so I rescued you."

"Oh thank god. Not that I did not want to play charades but I'm buggered. And also thank you for rescuing me," he added as he tilted on the hind legs of the chair.

"Be careful Sirius, you don't want to topple over backwards," Marlene cautioned as she watched his movements.

"Psshhhh don't worry love," Sirius waved a hand. Lea bit her cheek and swung a leg against one the legs of the chair as he tilted back, and then he and the chair toppled backwards.

Remus rubbed his neck trying to mask his grin and Marlene was unsuccessfully trying to stifle her giggles. Lea smiled craftily at him and he glared at her.

"Lea!"

"Oh come on! I rescued you, that was my good deed of the day, and I just had the itch to feel naughty!" she replied.

"Then go and do the horizontal tango with someone if you want to be naughty!" He retorted as he rolled off the chair. He just laid on the ground for a moment.

"Oh c'mon Sirius, get up mate," Remus chided him gently. He toed him with his foot.

"No, I'm quite comfortable down here," he said mildly.

"Grow up and get up Sirius!" Lea told him as she hopped down from her seat. Sirius took the opportunity and swiped one of his legs behind her feet, effectively clothes lining her, with his leg and she fell face first.

Unfortunately Sirius had not thought this through properly and hadn't calculated the trajectory of her fall correctly, because she fell face first right on top of him.

_Smooth move you git!_ His mind berated him.

Sirius felt the wind being knocked out of him when she fell on top of him and winced as her head collided into his collarbones. Then he felt her chest against his and swore at his stupidity.

_You, Sirius Black are a first class idiot_, the voice inside his head said smugly.

She was right on top of him for Christ sake. All over, on top of him.

He had to admit it, it was a nice feeling. She was soft and pliant.

And she still hadn't gotten off of him.

Why hadn't she gotten off?

Maybe she realized that he and his body were finally awesome.

For a fleeting moment Sirius' insides jumped up and down at this but then the more rational part of him reasoned that she was probably still stunned from the impact.

"Wow, I thought I was being overly affectionate today at the Quidditch pitch, but I didn't expect you, Lea of all people to be so comfortable with such blatant PDA." Lily's voice said over them. She didn't sound too amused.

James on the other hand started laughing. "What's going on here?"

"Lea and Sirius are being children," Remus answered. And with that Lea groaned and rolled herself off Sirius and lay on the ground next to him.

"Hey, he was the one who clotheslined me!" she grumbled as she stretched.

"Only you two would engage in violence at a party," Lily commented sarcastically. Marlene snorted.

"Well not all of us are quite grown up yet Lily," Sirius remarked with a serious face. Lea sniggered and slapped a hand on his chest. He felt the same stupid fluttering sensation he got nowadays whenever she was near him or touched him. Stupid fluttery feelings.

"Well Lily and I are going to hang out upstairs—" James began before Sirius interrupted "Hang out or make-out? I'd like to know if I'm going to be sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Sirius!" Lea exclaimed. She smacked his arm. Lily blushed and James narrowed his eyes at him. He took out his wand and pointed it at his mate.

"Oi! Don't want to set a bad example for everyone else remember, you're Head Boy. Besides, Sirius already got his arse kicked by Lea earlier," Lily said as she laid a gentle hand on James' arm. He lowered his arm.

"Lea beat you up? No offence Lea I didn't think you were that strong," James remarked.

"No, she kicked my ass with her wand. She gave me antler's for god's sake!" Sirius protested.

"You had antlers, on your head? How did I miss this?" James cried.

"You were probably locked in a supply closet with your girlfriend," Marlene said in a cocky voice. Lily growled at her and Marlene laughed and pressed a kiss to her roommate's cheek.

"Oh. Yeah I wouldn't put it past that, anyway we'll be upstairs." James said with a flourish before grabbing Lily's hand. She waved goodbye at them laughing at James.

"Aw man I'll bet we're all sleeping on the couches tonight," Sirius muttered.

* * *

By one o clock, the Common Room had emptied out except for a few Sixth Years and themselves. Marlene had gone upstairs to bed and Remus and Peter had fallen asleep, Remus in an armchair and Peter on the rug before the fireplace. That left Sirius and Lea still awake.

"Aren't you tired yet?" Sirius asked as he yawned. She shook her head and played with her wand. Sparks shot out from the end of it.

"Sirius, I slept till four in the afternoon, I'm wide awake," she told him.

"I took a three hour nap! And I'm falling off to sleep!" he protested.

"So go to bed, or actually go and check if Lily and James are asleep,"

"They wouldn't…she wouldn't have…" Sirius trailed off unsure of what to say. Lea understood him at once.

"Oh god no! Lily's not that kind of girl," she assured him. Sirius breathed in relief. He was pretty sure Lily wasn't like that but you never know with some people.

"But what if she's asleep? I don't want to wake her up," Sirius worried. Lea smiled.

"Relax, she'll probably be so embarrassed that she'll want to get in her own bed asap, besides she'd be more embarrassed to wake up with all of four of you in the room."

"Well…we could always just sleep down here…" Sirius trailed off. Lea looked at him.

"Do you seriously want to sleep on the couch tonight Sirius?" she asked him plainly. Sirius wrinkled his nose.

"No." He lamented.

Lea stood up. "I'll go up there if you want, I don't mind barging in like an elephant,"

"By all means be my guest," Sirius gestured with his hand. Lea got to her feet and made her way to the Boy's Staircase. Sirius stretched himself on the couch trying to get more comfortable and closed his eyes.

Lea opened the Seventh Year's Boy's door quietly and peeked her head in. To her surprise she heard talking. Cautiously she opened the door wider and gently eased her way into the room.

James and Lily were stretched out on his bed and they were talking. James was waving his hands around, signalling something and Lea looked at the pair of them for a moment. She felt happy seeing them like this.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but Remus and Peter have already conked out and Sirius was wondering if they were all sleeping in the Common Room tonight…so…I just wanted to see the situation." She said a little awkwardly.

Lily sat upright and glanced at her wrist. "Whoa! It's almost half past one, sorry!"

Lea waved her hand. "Not my problem, I'm just the messenger,"

"Thanks, poor Remus and Peter. Now they'll have to be woken up," Lily said feeling a little bad.

"Don't worry about, I'm sure they'll understand." Lea reassured her. She turned around and disappeared.

Lily kissed James goodbye and ruffled his hair. "Night James," she said quietly smiling.

"Night Lily," he replied.

* * *

Lea prodded Sirius. "Sirius! Sirius!" she whispered. He mumbled something in response.

She tapped him harder.

"Whassa matter?" he said sleepily.

"Your room is free to enter, they were just talking and Lily's gone back to our room," Lea told him.

Sirius ran a hand over his face and got up gingerly from the couch. He just sat there for a moment and blinked a couple of times. Slightly concerned Lea furrowed her eyebrow at this.

"You okay there?" she asked.

He didn't answer. After a beat he said in a weary voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

For a brief moment Lea heard the exhaustion and a deeper note of something else in his tone. It got to her, and what surprised her was that it did get to her.

Hesitantly, she stretched out a hand and gingerly touched the back of his hand with a finger. "Hey," she said quietly.

He looked up at her from his seat on the couch. "Yeah?"

"Whatever is bugging you, it'll go away. Get some sleep and you'll feel better when you wake up. And even if you don't feel better, you'll feel more level headed to tackle whatever is bugging you," she said softly.

Sirius looked up at her and his grey eyes seemed endless. Lea blinked.

"Thank you," he replied in an equally soft voice. "And thank you for rescuing me tonight." He added again. Lea gave him a small smile.

"Sure, anytime Sirius, I'll see you tomorrow okay?" she said. He nodded and she patted his leg in a companionable sort of way before making her way up to the Girl's Staircase.

* * *

_A/N: I bet some of you are going bananas at the fact that nothing major has happened between our hero and heroine yet, but this is a slow burn kind of story, where the importance of touches and looks are key to developing the romance. If you look closely, things are developing quietly between them. :) **Be good and please review! **xoxoxo_


	22. Put On Your Dancing Shoes

_A/N: Okay, I don't want to sound too sappy or sentimental but can I just say **WOW, YOU GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE!** All the amazing reviews, feedback, alerts, it's just so wonderful and it really gives me the energy to keep scribbling out this little fic of mine and to keep updating faster. Really, without all of you, this story would be nothing. Also, I always try and reply to any reviewer, you guys took the time to review, so it's only proper to reply back to you! I am also always here with open ears should you want to just randomly chat or talk. I will **always** get back to you, even if it's day or two later, but I will. So again, thank you all. And now on with the story, enjoy and review!_

* * *

_"Get on your dancing shoes, there's one thing on your mind,"_

-Arctic Monkeys

By Monday Sirius had more or less gotten a hold of himself, his emotions and his head.

More or less.

He decided that it was more important to keep his head screwed on tightly and try his best at this stupid solo dance competition. Two hundred points was a lot and if all they had to do was perform a dance then why not and put in a little effort?

Besides it helped that he was dancing with a pretty girl. Pretty girls always made things better.

While this may make him appear shallow to some, Sirius held an entirely different opinion of himself in this aspect.

Sirius loved girls.

But not just for the obvious reasons, Sirius loved the aesthetics of girls. He loved the lines that formed them, the way they moved, how their hands seem to do all the talking for them. He loved how they had the ability to wrap boys around their fingers, he loved how their eyes could cut through a person like glass.

Well he loved a certain' person's eyes who could cut through you like glass.

Sirius' mind immediately grinded to a halt. Love?

Perhaps love was too strong a word. He certainly _liked_ how that certain person's eyes could cut through him.

Yes liked was a much better word. Only crazy people fell in love with people they only knew for less than two months.

Sirius may be a lot of things. Cocky, reckless, a little hot headed at times, but the one thing he was not, was crazy.

He nodded to himself reassuring himself that he was not crazy, he just had a crush and a crush was just a passing, fleeting moment in time. He would get over it and then their friendship would continue with no stupid feelings getting in the way.

Life for both of them would be much better that way.

So that was the game plan he had decided on and he was going to make sure that would it stay like that.

"Morning Sirius," Lea smiled at him as she sat next to him on Monday morning.

He immediately felt a jolt go throughout his body when she took her seat. Christ this was pathetic. She hadn't even touched him, or brushed up against him and still he felt like this? He could have thrown himself off the Astronomy Tower.

"Morning Padfoot, Lea," James said cheerfully plunking on the seat opposite them. Lily slid next to him and grinned at the pair. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood this morning.

Everybody but him apparently. Sirius was already thrown off balance because of Lea's presence.

"Well look at all of us getting along, being all cheerful and civil," Remus commented dryly. He bit into his piece of toast and ducked when Lea chucked her banana peel at him.

"Shaddup Remy,"

"Yeah about that, what's with the girly nickname for Remus here?" James snorted. "Mooney is much more manly!"

Lily stifled a laugh and Lea shook her head. Remus coughed and said, "Moving right along. So Lea and Sirius, as our House Representatives for the dance practice, what dance will you perform?" he asked.

Sirius just looked at him confused and Lea shrugged. "What?"

"Don't tell me you weren't listening to what Josie and Tomas said!" James exclaimed.

To be honest Sirius had kind of shut off his brain after he realized that Lea and him were going to be the House Representatives. He had not the faintest clue as to what was going to happen during the next two weeks of practice.

"Yeah I wasn't listening mate," Sirius admitted. Peter threw his hands up in the air. "Sirius! You never listen!"

"Not true, just sometimes I never listen," he corrected his roommate. Lea chuckled at this.

"Well, from what I heard, we have to perform a dance that we choreograph. It's a freestyle dance, which means we can incorporate lifts and flips and all that kind of stuff into a dance, but we do have to have a kind of foundation of a traditional ballroom dance." Lea told him.

Sirius sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "This sounds bloody complicated."

Lily thought about this for a minute. "I don't think so, Josie will help you two come with the choreography, and you two are pretty good dancers, at least from what I saw. And lifts can easily be incorporated into the dances, especially in a tango or a paso doble."

"Do you really want to flip and cartwheel around the ballroom? In a dress?" Sirius queried Lea. She shook her head vigorously. "No! I do not want to flash the entire school!"

"Yeah what are you going to wear by the way?" Marlene asked. Lea groaned and tugged at her ponytail. "I don't know! God this is turning into a royal pain in the ass."

"Better you than me," Peter replied.

"Oi don't you lot have to do a group dance?" Sirius demanded.

James nodded. "Yeah, but it's a group dance. That's easier. And I think we're all going to go with the Viennese Waltz."

"What? When did you lot decide this?" Lea asked surprised.

"Sometime in between all the sleeping you two were doing," Peter answered. Lea rolled her eyes. Sirius gave him that. On Sunday he had slept most of the day away and had ended up in Lea's company and working through the enormous pile of homework in the evening.

"The Viennese Waltz? C'mon mates, you guys are Gryffindors, be a little more adventurous." Lea gestured with her fork. Sirius ducked. "Oi watch where you wave that thing!"

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Well what do you want us to do?" Lily huffed.

"The quickstep is a nice dance! It's lively, cheerful…" Lea trailed off.

"So why don't you two do it?" Marlene suggested. Sirius shook his head.

"I think we're better off with a Latin Dance—"

"Not the salsa please!" Lea interjected. He shot her a look and she fell quiet. "As I was saying, if we have to do a Latin Dance or whatever, I think the Tango is our best bet."

Lea thought about this and then nodded. "Yeah okay. We can use a tango as our base, and maybe incorporate some moves of another dance into it."

Sirius nodded. The bell rung signalling the beginning of the lessons. The girls got up from their seats and started walking together towards the entrance of the Great Hall. The boys followed them, lagging a bit behind. Sirius was surprised that James hadn't run off with Lily.

"So how's it going with Lily?" he asked his mate. James smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's going as well as it can for us. Six years of waiting has finally paid off."

"I can't believe you never gave up on her," Peter said shaking his head. He shrugged. "Sometimes you do things you can't really explain."

James switched topics. "So how's the hideously inappropriate crush on your dance partner going?" he fired at Sirius.

Sirius shoved his shoulder against his. "Will you be quiet? I don't need the whole school knowing about this. And how is it 'hideously' inappropriate?" he asked confused.

"Well seeing as she's the girl who broke your nose and one the few girls who couldn't stand you earlier and now is your friend..." James trailed off. He seemed to have lost his argument. Sirius looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Your point Prongs?" He asked in a sarcastic voice. Remus sniggered.

"I don't know what my point was. I thought I was explaining to you how it was inappropriate to have a crush on your dance partner…but now that I think of it…it's not inappropriate…and I don't even know what my main point was. Mooney help me out here."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Okay while it may be normal to have a crush on your dance partner, seeing as you're dancing and touching each other all night long…I don't know what I'm talking about! What the heck is the argument here?"

"There is no argument," Peter placidly said as they reached McGonagall's classroom. "Sirius, you have a crush on this girl, you like her, you're a big boy, you make your own decisions and you do what you think is best for both parties involved."

Sirius looked at Peter who gave him an affirmative nod to illustrate his point. Sirius smiled wanly and said, "Thanks Peter."

* * *

Lea took a deep breath and stretched to reach her toes. The Great Hall was filled with most of the couples. Marlene grunted as she stretched one leg behind her.

"I thought I'd be more flexible by now," she grumbled. Lea chuckled.

"Flexibility is something that is developed after a lot of practice," she told her. Marlene huffed in response.

Remus poked Marlene's side lightly and she giggled. "Hey," he said quietly smiling.

"Hi!" she beamed at him. Lea bit the inside of her cheek at this exchange.

"What's up with the dopey look on your face?" Sirius questioned Lea as he sidled up next to her. She swatted her arm.

"I do not look dopey! I'm just a little tickled because of…you know…" Lea waved her hand towards Marlene and Remus. Sirius gazed at them interestedly.

"Aaaaannnnnndd?" he asked gesturing with his hand. Lea sputtered. "What? Can't you see what's going on?"

"What?"

"Augh Sirius, for someone who makes it a career chasing after girls you sure are dim when it comes to observing the early stages of romance," said Lea.

"Oh give me a break. Marlene just broke up with Benjy. Girls take longer to get over guys than guys to get over girls." Sirius said dismissively.

"She broke up with him three or four weeks ago. And she didn't see too broken up about it." She said.

"Okay enough of this crap. Focus. We need to work on this dance thingy." Sirius abruptly said changing topics. Lea shot him a look of surprise. He was a little edgy tonight.

After their usual stretching and warm up dancing, Professor Longstreet clapped his hands. "Good evening everyone! Tonight we're going to split up into four groups. Each House will have an instructor and for the next two weeks we will be training and practising in these groups. Two groups will remain in the Great Hall and the other two will go to separate empty classrooms."

"Josie will instruct the Gryffindors, Tomas will take the Ravenclaw, I will take the Slytherins and Laura will instruct the Hufflepuffs."

At this another young woman came out gracefully. She was caramel skinned with dark hair and pretty eyes. Sirius eyed her interestedly and Lea shoved an elbow into his side.

"Hey!" he whispered.

"Stop drooling over her, she's a teacher!" Lea whispered back crossly. She had felt a brief note of jealousy when she saw him looking at the new teacher and then quickly shook it off.

"Aw are you jealous? You know you're my favourite girl," Sirius grinned as he swung an arm around her. She struggled against his hold. "As if. Get off me Black!"

Sirius tucked his tongue in his cheek and just tightened his arm around her. Lea had an internal struggle in her mind and then decided to give up resisting and stopped squirming around. Stupid git.

He casually slid his arm from her shoulders down to her waist where he let it rest loosely there. Stupid cocky git.

But it felt nice.

And he smelled nice.

Okay. So he was a stupid cocky git who was insufferable at times but at least he smelled nice. That damn incense.

And with this irrational logic Lea decided to be nice and not remove his arm from around her waist. She would be nice, for now. She'd just turn his hair into antlers again when he was least expecting it for this.

"Okay!" Josie clapped her hands and beamed. Lily had to smile herself at this woman's enthusiasm for dance. It was infectious.

"Well now that we cosily situated in our own classroom let's get down to business. Each house will perform a group dance and a solo dance. Have you lot decided on what dance you might want to perform?" she asked.

No one said anything for a moment. James said, "Well…Sirius here was telling me that he and Lea were thinking of doing the salsa," he bit his cheek and Lily snorted.

Lea shot James a look of alarm. Sirius rolled his eyes."That's a big fat lie miss! We were actually thinking of working with the tango." He said corrected loudly. Lea nodded her head in affirmation.

Josie leaned back on the desk and thought about this. "All right. The tango is a good dance to incorporate lifts. That can work. And what about you lot, the group dance?" she asked gazing at the Gryffindors with a keen eye.

Lily looked down at the floor and James looked determinedly at the ceiling. Peter huffed in annoyance. "We had thought about doing a Viennese Waltz but apparently to some people, it's not adventurous enough," he said giving Lea a pointed look. She lifted her palms up as if saying "what?".

Their dance instructor chuckled at this. "Well there are pro's and con's to every dance. The Viennese Waltz might be easier choreographically speaking for a group, but it's also one of the slower ballroom dances and there's not a lot of room to be creative or innovative. It's a very sweet, formal dance. It's up to you lot."

The Gryffindors all looked at each other. Mary Abbot, a Sixth year asked "Can we discuss it amongst ourselves or a moment. We want to see what our other options are."

"Sure. In the meantime, Sirius, Lea come up here. Let's start with seeing what your tango looks like at the moment."

The pair shuffled up to their instructor. Waving her wand a gramophone materialized out of thin air. She put the needle on the record and the music floated out.

Lea felt a little shy all of a sudden. She thought it'd be easier to dance with a smaller group. But now, she wasn't so sure. Suddenly the energy seemed different and it made her feel funny.

Sirius placed a hand on her waist and enclosed her others in his and held it out. They began to dance and he spun her out then she stretched out one leg and Sirius rotated her slowly on her other leg. Gracefully he pulled her to her feet and they came closer as they began to dance in a line.

Lea felt her skin flush with something she didn't know every time Sirius' hand held hers or when it brushed against her back when he touched her waist. What was the matter with her?

They danced for another few minutes and then their instructor stopped the music. They pair of them looked at her warily.

"Ok. Well your technique is pretty good, you have good posture. What we need to do is now add the emotions and the lifts and I think we'll have a pretty decent tango." She told them.

Lea 's shoulders slumped down in relief. "What do you mean by emotions?"

"The tango, as we've said, is a passionate, fiery dance. It's a sensual dance, about conflicting emotion. You're telling a story, the ageless story about the battle of the sexes and how love changes the dynamics of the story. We need to inject, heat, passion, conflict, turmoil into the dance."

Good grief, just hearing Josie ramble off all those types of feelings was making Lea's skin heat up even more. She prayed that Sirius hadn't noticed this.

"And with that, you two really need to turn up the heat, you want to draw the viewer into the story. There's some chemistry there, but we need more." Josie continued.

Chemistry? What chemistry was the between the two of them? Was it the chemistry that made Lea want to clobber Sirius on a daily basis?

"Now lets I'm going to play the music again, I want you two to practice the tango you know, but this time work on the emotions. We'll start developing the choreography on Wednesday. I'm going to work with the others now." She instructed.

Lea looked and Sirius and he stared back at her. "Shall we partner?" he asked her.

Lea felt like she was on a sinking ship. What exactly was going to happen now?

* * *

_A/N: Be prepared for a lot of dancing in the upcoming chapters, (we do want our loveable, if not prattling hero and heroine to do well don't we?) **Be good and please review!** xoxoxo_


	23. An Internal Monologue

_A/N: You know how much I love and appreciate all your support, alerts and reviews. =] Your reviews really help me to continue to scribble out this fic. Read, enjoy and let me know what you think!_

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_"Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it,"_

-Mark Twain

What happened was that she was totally off her game. Her technique was a little loose and she had had trouble concentrating. Sirius gave her a funny look once or twice but didn't say anything. When the dance lesson had finally ended, Lea dragged Marlene by one hand and stomped out of the room. Sirius was left behind scratching his head with a slightly befuddled look and Remus had no answer to his friend's slightly irrational behaviour.

She scowled at herself as she glared at her Herbology notes. She savagely snatched up her quill and attacked the piece of parchment as if it had personally offended her.

Sirius fucking Black.

Ohhhh she could have wrung his neck for all the trouble he was causing her. He was the sole reason for her stupidity and her new found inability to sleep at all. Oh she could have killed him. What was worse her own stupidity of saying yes to going to the stupid dance as his date. What on earth had caused her brain to have an aneurysm and say "Yes"?

She still did not have an answer to that.

And furthermore she had to be a world class idiot and make it unclear as to what they were going as? Were they going as dates? As mates? As mates who were going as dates?

God what the fuck had she done? Oh yeah, she decided to be cocky and ask him what he wanted.

And to this, for once he actually acted like a mature person and replied with "_Whatever you're comfortable with_".

_He was such a wuss!_ Her mind screamed at her. She bore down so hard on the parchment that she broke the tip of her quill and then smeared the ink. Frustrated she chucked the quill across the room, hearing a cry of "Ow!" from some poor second year. Oh well. Accidents happened. For heaven's sake, it was _Hogwarts_.

She would kill him. After the dance.

Lea sat back and closed her eyes envisioning her world before she knew Sirius. Actually she envisioned a world without his existence entirely. For a moment she smiled to herself. Then the smile slid off her face and she opened her eyes.

That world would suck, no doubt about it.

However annoying, egotistical, and cocky he was, Sirius was also funny, clever and honest and wildly loyal to his friends. And Lea liked honesty, it was one of her most important traits she valued in a mate.

And, she too had been in error when she passed judgement on him, letting it clout her senses. She had merely passed him off as another popular smart jock who got everything he wanted without even trying. That was simply not true. Everyone is different from what they project. It was all a matter of taking the time and the chance to realize you were wrong in your judgement and that you wanted to correct it.

It wasn't easy admitting you were wrong. And it sure as hell wasn't easy admitting to yourself that you were wrong.

However she did and she got over it. Yes Sirius still annoyed her in some ways, but then again, didn't all of your mates? Remus got on her nerves too at some points, and she was sure she got on his nerves and Lily's as well. People did that, even those who you loved, got on your nerves. It was just simply how people worked and she knew that.

She also knew that she sure as hell did not love Sirius.

She didn't even love him as a friend. For Merlin's sake she had only known him as a proper human being for about a month and half. Who for heaven's sake fell in love with a person they initially despised for six years in less than two months?

Crazy, desperate to get married and have babies since You-Know-Who was busy running round and terrorizing the Wizarding and Muggle Population, who knows what might happen kind of people.

And she was definitely not one of those types of people.

Lea's eyebrows drew together as she thoughtfully analysed the situation at hand. She had started out more or less tolerating Sirius' existence as long as he didn't mess with her. She knew of him, but didn't know him. They had run in the same circle of mates but hadn't been mates.

Then they had been paired up as dance partners. They had both started to get on each other's nerves. Then somehow they magically managed to move past it and had ended crossing over from friend-ish to proper friends somewhere in the last two weeks.

Now if she could only been able to methodically chart this topsy turvy relationship then things might have made more sense. But of course the world didn't work that way. Friendships and relationships wasn't like charting the growth and development of a Bowtruckle or a Niffler.

Then something, SOMETHING had happened to her in the last week or so ever since they had been chosen as the House Representatives for the solo dance part. Something had conked her on the head which made her act stupid and loose control of her emotions and her rationality.

She was never not in control of her emotions. She always knew what to do with them.

So what had changed?

What had changed was that Lea was a girl and Sirius was a guy, (an attractive one too) and they were dancing together all the time now. What had changed was that there was something that fascinated her about him, but she wasn't sure what it was, but she wanted to stick around to see what it was. What had changed was that Lea used to be one of the few girls who couldn't stand Sirius and that in her own selfish, girly way, she prided herself on being one of the few things that really got Sirius' attention. She secretly kind of enjoyed being the one thing that dominated Sirius' thoughts, even if it used to be in a bad light.

But now they were friends and friends usually don't dominate each other's thoughts. Unless they liked each other.

Lea frowned deeply at her analysis. She wasn't sure what the outcome of it was. Either it meant that she was starting to see Sirius in a different light or she was loosing her marbles. And if she, god forbid, did like him, then that was bad because they were mates.

What she needed to do was stop over analysing this, and pull herself together. She couldn't afford to act girly and stupid and let her emotions run haywire. If Sirius and her wanted to stand a chance to win two hundred points then she would have to set herself straight. She needed to approach this thing like she approached her exams: Focus, analyse the information (or in this case the emotions in retrospect) and don't allow distractions.

Her emotions would most likely be the distractions and to that end she would effectively box them up and not think about them until afterwards. Then it would be Winter Break, she would go home and she would get some much needed physical distance away from him. She'd come back for the new term and their friendship could continue with no obstacles.

That was the new plan and that was that, she decided setting her jaw. She pulled out a new quill only to have it plucked out of her hands.

Staring at the offending hand her found new resolve nearly went out of the window. However, it was the part of her who was the competitor, the girl who wanted to go places and see things, who managed to hang on to her newly found philosophy that kept her in check.

"Sirius!"

* * *

"Get up and close your books," Sirius said in a firm manner. To speed things up he shut her books and shoved them into her messenger bag. Lea made a noise of protest which Sirius ignored.

"Oi who made you dictator of the Common Room?" she asked indignantly as she tried to tug back her notes. He held onto them and looked at her.

"We are going to practice. Let's go, McGonagall is letting us use her classroom in the evenings until the Ball."

"What? Now?" she asked incredulously. He nodded.

"C'mon. Time's a wasting."

"Sirius, I've got a lot of homework to do, besides we have practice tomorrow night!" Lea said. Sirius shook his head. He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of her seat.

She looked at him with a livid expression. Sirius looked back at her evenly and then said, "Look, to be honest, yesterday you weren't at your best. We were fine until Josie said that we need to up our emotions and then you were off your game. Yeah, I'm calling you out on it because you're a good dancer and I want to try and win this thing."

She chewed her lip for a moment and then slung her bag over her shoulder. "Fine, you're right. Let's go practice."

For a moment Sirius was caught off guard. He had a whole other argument prepared in case she proved to be difficult, which she usually was. He actually felt a little disappointed that he didn't get to use his other argument.

"Why are you taking your bag with you? We're dancing, not studying," he asked.

"Because if I go upstairs to dump my stuff, I'll never come back down and then you'd have to _Imperio _me to go practice." She grumbled. Sirius laughed.

"Let's move," he prodded her with his wand and she started grumbling again but began moving towards the Portrait Hole.

* * *

"Focus!" Sirius said loudly as he twirled her around. Lea wrenched her hand from his and stomped her foot. "I am trying to focus!" she protested. Sirius shook his head.

"C'mere," he said patiently and held out his hand. She accepted it with a sour expression but nonetheless she came closer to him. Sirius waved his wand towards the gramophone and the music started up again.

Sirius wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tightly against him as they moved to the music. She lowered her eyes and didn't look at him. Impatient Sirius tipped her chin up with one finger and demanded, "Look at me. We're telling a story here. Look at me."

She lifted her gaze to him and for a moment Sirius nearly lost the thread of the dance they were practising. Eyes had always fascinated him, whether they were blue or brown, he thought they were one of the most intriguing things in the world. Her eyes, especially, captivated him in such a way that it gave him goose bumps sometimes.

Lea arched back and Sirius led them around the room in a series of spins. He took this moment to admire her smooth skin and felt a little smug at this. Out of all the blokes in this school, he alone had the pleasure of being afforded this view of the elusive Lea. This thought buoyed him a bit.

He pulled at her hand a little more to signal that she could raise her upper half again. When she rose, instead of leading them into the familiar step they usually practised Sirius grabbed one of her legs and wrapped it around his waist and lifted her up. She was unfamiliar with this kind of lift, all the other kinds of lifts were more traditional, it was more like weight lifting for Sirius with the types of lifts he chose. Once, he had surprised her entirely and lifted her entirely over his head, horizontally and spun her like they were in a circus. Sometime he lifted her by his waist and she would stretch out her legs like an ballerina and he would spin them around. They practised the lifts they had been taught to do.

This type of lift wasn't taught to them. This type of lift spoke of things that she deemed were appropriate for a broom supply closet, or an empty dorm room.

Lea ignored this and let herself be swept up in the motion. Sirius then spun her out with great vigour and she nearly slid out of his grip. The music stopped she passed a hand over her brow.

"What was that?" she asked in an accusatory tone. He merely shrugged and wiped his face with the hem of t-shirt.

"That was me trying to inject some emotion into the dance. James and I came up with a few different ideas for lifts and all that blahblahblah." He replied.

Lea didn't say anything but took a swig from her bottle of water. "Ideas."

"Yes. If you must know, James, Remus and I have been brainstorming some ideas on how to choreograph this dance."

"You guys have been dancing? On your own?" she asked slightly amused.

"Yes we have. And do you know why? It's cos we want to win." He replied shortly.

Lea caught the change in his tone and his manner. He was a little brusque, a little confrontational. In short he was acting a like a prick a little bit.

She found this type of Sirius a little easier to handle. "You want to win." She said in a cool voice. This was neither a question or an observation.

"Yes. I am Sirius fucking Black mate. I do not do things halfway, I go the whole way and if you're on my side, my team or whatever, you, unfortunately are stuck going the whole way with me."

Maybe he didn't realize what he was saying or how easily a second meaning could be inferred from this. But Lea did and she found it amusing which utterly surprised her. Usually she would have smacked him for that.

"So this is the deal mate, you and I are going to be dancing until we die. I will do whatever it takes to be the best at this. We are going to eat, sleep and dance. Eat, sleep dance, eat sleep dance. Saavy?"

A Sirius who was in command. It impressed her, it made her respect him a wee bit more. This, she could get on board with.

She could be in command too. She had to be in control of some aspects or who knows what might happen? Two people can play this game. She came up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her body flush against his. Bringing her face close to his, she said in a throaty voice, "Saavy,"

Sirius involuntarily shivered.

* * *

_A/N:I place the blame on reading Henry Miller for writing Lea's internal monologue heh.** Be good and please review!** xoxoxo_


	24. The Third Degree

_A/N: **Thank you** to each and every one of you for your support, I appreciate it all and love every single one of you whose put this story on alert, their favourites and reviewed. Just a little head-up, the latter of the chapter is where things begin to heat up, physically between our characters. Enjoy and let me know what you think. :)_

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"_Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire,_"

-George Bernard Shaw

"Something's changed with her," Sirius complained to James.

Once again they were in the library during one of their free periods. Surrounded by a stack of books, the table was littered with ink, parchment and quills. Remus looked up from his Transfiguration book.

"Whats changed Padfoot?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know!" he said in a frustrated voice. Someone said "Ssshhhh" loudly and Sirius lowered his voice. "She's a little different. Her mind doesn't seem to be all there when I'm dancing with her."

"And because your Mr. I'm-So-Awesome, a girl's attention has to be solely on you all the time?" Peter asked sarcastically. James sniggered.

"Well of course!" Sirius replied rolling his eyes. "Most of the time." He joked. Remus smiled at him benignly.

"She's a pretty good dancer normally but ever since we became the solo dancers she's been a little off. It's like she's not fully there. No actually the problem here is that she's all over the place emotionally. One day she's nice and fine and game for dancing all close and crap and the next day she's all twitchy and can't stand me."

"She maybe just stressed with all the homework and the practice NEWTs coming up." James pointed out reasonably.

Sirius shook his head in an "Eh maybe maybe" kind of way. "Why does this bother you?" Remus asked patiently.

"Because I don't like it when she's not okay! Is there something wrong with her?" Sirius said throwing down his quill.

"You looooooovveeee her!" James sang in a whisper. Sirius pointed his wand at him and sparks shot out from the end. James ducked.

"Oi!" Peter exclaimed throwing his arms over his essay protecting it from any potential harm.

"I do not love her! I like her!" Sirius growled.

"You like her? Who?" A female voice asked interestedly.

Sirius mentally face palmed himself. Great, now another person knew of his crush.

Lily pressed a quick kiss on James' lips and pulled an extra seat up to the table. She peered at Sirius with bright eyes. "You like who? Let me guess, my roommate?"

"The one and only." Peter announced.

"Hey, I do have two you know!"

"Yeah but the other one is on reserve." Sirius muttered. Remus elbowed him.

"Yeah, if Remus ever makes a move on her," Lily rolled her eyes. Remus gaped at her.

"You know?" he cried out in a low voice.

"Yeah I know! Lea and I talk about it all the time!" Lily scoffed. James smiled good-naturedly.

"Does Marlene know?" Remus demanded leaning across the table. Lily shook her head. "No, you secret is save among the six of us,"

"For now," Sirius taunted. Remus hit the back of his head.

"Anyway, back to the point, you like Lea," Lily stated in a matter of fact voice.

Sirius grudgingly nodded. "Yes, it appears so."

"So what's the problem? You two are going to the Ball together."

"That **is** the problem," he grumbled doodling on his parchment.

"How?" Peter asked confused.

Sirius sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I don't know if we're going as dates or as mates! She left it all up in the air! And now, we're dance partners for the competition, I like her, but now we're friends, and apparently, I'm 'Mayor of the Friend Zone'! So yes, I have a boatload of problems and I don't know what to do about any of them!" Sirius ranted throwing his hands up. He then put his head down on the table.

Peter patted him sympathetically on the back. "Sirius," Lily said.

He didn't get up from the table. "Sirius!" Lily repeated a little louder.

Resignedly Sirius lifted his head up and looked glumly at his best mate's girlfriend. "What?" he asked tiredly.

Lily smiled gently at him. "If it's any worth, I think you two are going to be amazing at the solo dance competition. You guys have good technique, and you have two weeks to keep practising. Lea has begun to practice dancing in the morning, instead of running."

"She has?" Sirius asked slightly surprised. She nodded in affirmation.

"And okay, so you have a crush on her," she began but Sirius interrupted her.

"I don't think I have a crush on her anymore…" he said slowly. Peter looked at him. "I like her."

"Yes, yes, we know that." James waved a hand. But his mate shook his head. "No, I really _like_ her. And I don't know why." He said.

"Who cares why? Not everything needs to have an explanation! Okay, so you like her, this is what I think you ought to do. Are you listening?" She asked.

Sirius nodded. Lily clasped her hands and leaned forward. She looked at him with kind eyes. "You're Sirius Fucking Black. You can handle this. All of you have to do is just take things one step at a time and decide what exactly you want out of everything."

"Since when do you call him Sirius Fucking Black?" James asked a little miffed. Lily smiled slightly. "Lea calls him that, and it's common knowledge that Sirius has a way with the girls, plus he has a fan club, and he's clever."

"I'm clever!" James said indignantly. Lily chuckled and wrapped a hand around his. "Don't worry James, I chose you remember? And believe me, I don't think I could have chosen better."

Sirius felt a dopey grin spread across his face at this as he stared at the couple. James noticed this. "What Padfoot?"

"Nothing. You guys make me happy," he said a little sentimentally.

"I'm glad." Lily cut in. "Anyway, problem number one, you're going to the dance together, as what, you don't know, it's okay. What you do, is dress up all nice, be yourself and take her to the dance. You guys have a nice time, just be your usual bigheaded, egotistical, honest self and don't worry about it. Things will run its course."

The boys stared at her.

"I'm not that egotistical!" Sirius protested. Lily rolled her eyes. "Please, besides, all the things you usually are, are the things that made Lea eventually like you enough to be mates."

Sirius mumbled something. Lily continued. "Problem number two, you're dance partners for the solo competition? So you practice your butts off, try your hardest and just hope for the best. Don't stress about it.

Problem number three, you're friends now and you like her. What you have to decide is, whether or not to go after her. And if you do, you have to decide whether or not putting your friendship on the line is worth it. But that's a problem you can tackle later if you want to." She finished.

Sirius was dumbstruck. It all seemed so easy the way she said it. But he knew, that it wouldn't be easy. Playing with emotions was never easy. It was like playing with fire.

The bell rung signaling the end of the period. Lily got up and went around the table. She patted Sirius' head affectionately. "Sirius, don't worry about things so much. Things will unfold as time goes on and all you can do is just be yourself."

Sirius nodded and the boys watched her walk away from them. As they gathered up their books Sirius clapped a hand on James' back. "You, my man, have got a good one. How you ever managed to get her will continue to astound me, but don't fuck it up and don't let her go." He said sternly.

"I know mate, I know." James replied pushing his glasses up his nose.

* * *

"There's no heat between you two!" Josie complained.

Once again the Gryffindors found themselves in an empty classroom with Josie at yet another evening of practice.

"What do you mean by heat? I thought were supposed to be ballroom dancing!" Lea gestured with her hands.

"You are, but this is the thing, dance is about passion, love and beauty. You're story tellers! Tell us a story! When you two are dancing like this, all I'm getting is two students who have better things to do." Josie replied.

Lea looked as if she was going to say that she probably did have better things to do, but then thought better of it. Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"So what do you want us to do? Make up a story?" Lea asked.

"If you have to, my god, do so!" Josie exclaimed. She left them to watch Remus, Peter and their partners as they practised their group dance.

"Hey you lot," James cautiously said as he approached the pair. Lea gave him a weary look and Lily slung an arm around her roommate.

"What the hell does she mean by heat?" Lea asked.

"She means emotions. I mean you guys dance well, but there's…nothing exciting about it." Lily finally said.

Sirius shot her a look and Lily sheepishly looked towards the board.

"You guys are boring okay? Which is weird because you two are probably the two most temperamental people I've had the pleasure of knowing." James said bluntly.

Lea groaned and sat on the desk. Sirius studied her for a moment. "Well I guess we'll just have to make up a story,"

"I'm not going to pretend to have an affair with you!" Lea loudly said.

"Who said anything about an affair? Jeez woman calm down." Sirius said annoyed.

A light bulb went off in Lily's head. "Wait a minute, you guys could do the story of you two!" she said excitedly.

Lea looked at her confused but Sirius considered this seriously. Slowly a smile made its way on his face. "Lily you're a genius!" he hugged her.

"I know," she said off handily said. James laughed and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Oi, what story are you talking about?" Lea asked impatiently.

"The story of your friendship. You guys started off wanting to shove one another off the astronomy tower but now you two are friends," Lily explained.

"Hey I never wanted to shove Sirius off the Astronomy Tower!" Lea protested. Sirius rolled his eyes and said, "I'm sure you've dreamt of it."

"Anyway, yeah, now you guys are getting along and stuff, and you could use your actual story as a base to make up the rest of the story…like now they're friends now, but what happens when the line between friendship blurs with another kind of ship?" James said with an evil smile on his face.

Sirius glared at him so hard sparks might have flown out of them. Seeing this Lily hurriedly said, "Or whatever, point is, just put all the emotions you felt towards each other at the start of this dance class into the dance as well as the ones you have for each other now, since you're mates and all. Or just use yourselves as inspiration to create a story that explores love and hate" She added. She then tugged James away from them and returned to the group.

Lea looked at him with indecipherable eyes. Sirius ignored this and grabbed her hands. "C'mon let's start writing our story,"

"Don't you mean dancing our story?" she asked before he lifted her up into the air.

* * *

They practiced. And practiced. And practiced. Lea practiced at 5:30 in the morning, Sirius practiced before breakfast. They practiced together during their free periods, after lessons, they practiced at one in the morning when the Common Room was empty. They practiced until they thought their feet would fall off.

They weren't the only ones practicing day and night at all hours of the day. The Marauders and their partners practiced in the hallways, empty classrooms, the Common Rooms. The entire Sixth and Seventh Year class were dancing in the corridors, on the staircases, basically they practiced on any surface available. Some were even so bold to as practice their dance moves in the library.

Sirius had put a lot of thought into the dance they were creating. He tried to think of all the emotions that Lea withdrew from him and found a myriad of inspiration for new moves and lifts to inject into the free style tango they were to perform. Plus, with the additional new found feelings of him fancying her, he discovered a whole new range of emotions to add to the dance.

Needless to say, Lea did not find all of these new moves and lifts too amusing. Suddenly their dance had become more complicated technically. Worst still was that there still was not enough "heat" between the two of them.

Lea did not like being reminded of this at their group practices. Something needed to be done.

"Lea!" Sirius barked out.

It was Thursday night and they were in McGonagall's empty classroom once again. Lea sighed and dropped her hands from his waist.

"What?" she asked tiredly.

"Focus!" he exclaimed. She sighed and tugged at her bun.

"I'm thinking." Lea finally said.

No one said anything for a moment. Taken slightly aback Sirius took a step backwards from her. Staring hard at her he said, "Pardon me?"

She toyed with the hem of her shirt. Finally she said, "There's still not enough heat or sensuality into the dance! We need to draw the audience in."

Sirius just looked at her.

"What?" she demanded. Sirius snapped out of his gaze.

"And how do you propose to do that?" Sirius inquired.

"By giving you permission to break the self imposed rules I gave at the beginning of the lessons." She grumbled.

"Huh?" he asked confused.

"Remember waaaayyy back in the beginning I told you to keep your hands off in specific areas?"

He thought back for a moment. Then he sniggered. "Yeah I remember. What about them?"

"Well know I'm giving you permission to break them. You want to win this thing don't you?" she asked.

"Yeah I do! Two hundred points!" he snorted.

"Okay so we need to turn up the heat. Which means more skin on skin contact, we need to entrap the audience with our story."

"What is our story again?" he asked.

"Two people who both love and hate each other, fire and ice," Lea promptly replied not thinking about what she was saying.

"Are these two people you and I?" Sirius asked shrewdly.

Lea looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Her eyes widened and she froze. She sure as hell didn't love Sirius. Liked him as a mate, yes, found him attractive, yes, but was she attracted to him in a different way?

She wasn't so sure about that yet. And if she was, she promptly ignored that for the moment. She composed herself and coolly replied, "Whatever gets that cogs in that pretty head of yours turning,"

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

"Well I was thinking that maybe, in the beginning of the dance or whenever there's a solo breakout and I'm coming up to you, I could go like this…" Lea trailed off as she strode up to swaying her hips.

"Then, I could go like this," she murmured as she put both of her hands on the sides of his face and ran them down his face, his neck, resting on his chest, his shirt bunching up between her fingers.

"Yeah that'll definitely work to getting people's attention," Sirius managed to say in a controlled voice. What was she playing at? If she was playing, then two could play at this game.

"Then maybe we could go into a move like this," Sirius demonstrated as he wrapped one arm around her waist and caught her hand is. They began to sway intimately together, their lower half's dangerously close to each others.

Sirius spun her and she lowered herself down, swiveling on her heels, with one lone hand running down the length of Sirius' torso in a teasing manner. His eyes darkened.

They resumed their natural standing positions and they tangoed excruciatingly slowly, exaggerating their steps. Both of them glared into each other's eyes, stormy grey into thunderous blue.

Sirius dipped her low. "I think it'd be good if I did something like this," his said in a low voice. He grazed the length of her upper body with his nose and then finally pressed a kiss in the hollow of her throat.

Time stopped.

She looked up at him, her eyes dark with things he couldn't read. "That's really good, we should do that," she replied in a throaty voice.

"And then I should do this," Lea fisted her hand in his hair and swung one leg around his waist and stretched the other one between his legs. Sirius lifted her and she let her head drop back.

They continued to dance, turning up the heat between them degree by degree through creative and strategic placement of the hands.

When she flung her arms around him from behind and pressed her cheek to his as he dragged them across the floor Sirius mentally swore. Her skin was soft.

The rhythm of the music got to them and Sirius finally saw what was so brilliant about dancing the tango. It gave him the chance to channel every one of his sexual frustrations towards his dance partner through the dance.

One song melded into the next, and still their legs kept moving, hands kept touching, teasing, and never did her eyes leave his except for when she wasn't facing him.

The last song on the record was winding down and Sirius once again lifted her and spun her and then lowered her to the floor, bending down on one knee to support her back. He skimmed a hand over her over her stomach, her breast and then slid it around her neck and pressed his lips lightly against her throat.

"I think we effectively turned up the heat," she half whispered.

Sirius said nothing. He didn't trust himself to say anything right now.

* * *

_A/N: Whew, that was a little difficult for me to write, I won't lie, as I by nature don't write those kind of scenes...how'd I do? **Be good and review please!** xoxoxo_


	25. The Death of Lea's Integrity

_A/N: You know how much I love and appreciate all your support, alerts and reviews. =]_ _Thank you so much and enjoy and let me know what you think_

* * *

_"There's a time and place for logic. Love unfortunately, isn't one of the places,"_

Lea was sprawled across the bed gazing up at the ceiling of her bed, her fingers unconsciously touching her throat where Sirius' lips had been hours before when Marlene came across her.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," her roommate replied without looking at her.

Marlene dumped her book bag on the floor and undid her ponytail. She studied Lea and came up to her, easing herself against a bedpost.

"What's up with the serious expression? Who died?" she asked.

"My integrity." Lea replied solemnly. Marlene chuckled then stopped when she saw the Lea's somber face.

"Okay what's got your knickers in a twist?" She inquired. Lea scooted over to make room for her and Marlene sprawled herself across the bed and propped an elbow up. "So?"

"I think I'm attracted to Sirius," Lea confessed quietly.

"What? Speak louder I can't hear!" Marlene said.

"I said, 'I think I'm attracted to Sirius'!" Lea repeated a little bit louder.

Marlene thought about this for a moment. "What do you mean by 'think'? Either you are, or you aren't. You can find a person attractive yes, you can be attracted to a person, how can you 'think' you're attracted to person? I don't understand that part. I think you can think that you may or may not like or love a person though. But 'think' you're attracted to? I don't think so."

Lea absorbed this and Marlene continued, "Now, if you're using the word "attracted" as a synonym for "fancying" or "liking" a person, then I can fully agree that yes, you can think you're attracted to a person."

"Okay, I will admit that. I am attracted to Sirius aesthetically," Lea gave in.

"Ok. So what context does the thinking part come in?" She asked with shrewd eyes.

Her roommate was silent for a moment. Then she rolled on her side and looked at her. She sighed deeply. "I don't know what I feel for Sirius. And that's what stumps me. If I like him like him, then yes, my integrity has died. If I'm just lusting after him, again my integrity has died because I'm not that kind of girl to screw over a mate."

"Why has your integrity died if you really fancy him?" Marlene queried. She didn't reply for a moment.

"Because it's Sirius fucking Black!" she blurted out. Marlene laughed and rolled on to her back. She laced her fingers behind her head and said to the ceiling, "Aaannnnd?"

"It's him! I've spent the last six years ignoring his existence. I've only known him as a proper human being, with a brain and everything for about two months!" she cried out.

"So? For some people it's enough. Some people make out once and then Bam! They're together." Marlene replied.

Lea pulled a pillow over her face. Marlene tapped the pillow with her wand. "Oi come back here."

Reluctantly Lea peeked over the pillow and gave her roommate the stink eye. She chortled. "Look, it's not a bad thing if you like Sirius,"

"Of course it is! I'm his mate!" Lea protested. Marlene shook her head. "Sometimes the best relationships come after a friendship."

"And sometimes the best friendships can be destroyed by a relationship!" Lea shot back.

"That's true." Marlene acquiesced.

"Besides, I don't even know Sirius all that really well. I'd like to become better mates with him before. He's actually an interesting bloke and I'm glad we're mates okay? I don't want to mess things up." Lea said contritely.

"That's good. I'm glad you want to be better friends with him, really I am. But all I'm saying is, you don't have to beat yourself for potentially liking him as something more than that. It's like you said, Sirius is an interesting bloke, he's a good guy Lea. Yeah he can be pigheaded at some points but that's just who he is. You're friends with him in spite of it. There's nothing wrong with liking anyone as a matter of fact."

"I just don't want to get distracted. I'm not that kind of girl who lets a guy turn her whole world upside down." Lea sighed.

Marlene sat up and bit her lip. "Frankly, I think that's a bunch of bullshit. Look Lea, weren't you the one who told Lily it was okay to like James? That he was a nice guy and there's nothing wrong in liking him? And look at them now, they're happy, they still get good grades and they still have time to hang out with their mates. Liking a guy doesn't mean your submitting to the patriarchy! Or throwing yourself away."

She continued. "Don't beat yourself up over this Lea. But you shouldn't box your emotions away nor should you let them take a hold of you and let them make you miserable. Emotions shouldn't control us, we should control our emotions."

Lea just stared at her. Ignoring this Marlene steam rolled ahead with her speech. "Look, you took a chance to go to Hogsmeade with Sirius to get to know him better right? To become friends? And look how that turned out, fine. You managed to get past your differences and find the good parts to each other. You're just going to have to take a chance to see if you want something more, you have to decide whether or not you want to take the chance."

"But I don't know!" Lea cried.

"Relax, you don't have to decide now. Don't over think this or try to analyse every single one of your feelings. This isn't a test or a homework assignment. There is no right or wrong answer or any grading scale."

"So what should I do?" she asked. Marlene gazed at her quietly for a moment.

"I can't really tell you that Lea. All I can say is…don't over think these kinds of things, you can't be so prepared for everything, some things in this life are just going to smack you right in the face and you're just going to have to go with it.

Don't worry, don't panic, and just be yourself, your intuition will guide you that's what its there for. Let things just run its course, time will show you the answers you're looking for when you're ready to see them." Marlene finished brushing a hand over Lea's head.

Lea didn't say anything for a moment, she just laid there and digested all of the advice her roommate gave her.

After a minute or two, she piped up. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Might as well since I'm here," Marlene sighed theatrically.

"What should I wear?"

"Now that I will be glad to tell you what to do!" Marlene replied laughing.

* * *

"Now there's chemistry! There's heat!" Josie cried out approvingly after she watched them perform their work in progress free style tango.

She waved her wand and the music stopped. Sirius and Lea stepped away from each other and looked at her expectantly.

"There's heat! There's sensuality. There's technique! You've got it. Now all you have to do is practice this, maintain the technique and heat and you my friends for the next week until the Ball." Josie said waving her hand.

Lea sighed and Sirius slung an arm around her shoulder. To his surprise, and to the surprise of the Marauders, she didn't shrug it off. Lily and Marlene swapped smug looks.

Lea hadn't brought up some of the moves Sirius had been continuing to perform, including the one where he kissed her throat so Sirius assumed that she accepted it for what it was. He also didn't comment on his actions. Better to let them speak for themselves.

"Do you have any feedback or anything?" Lea asked their instructor.

Josie studied the pair critically. Then she hopped on the desk and gestured with her hands. "The only criticism I have is that sometimes your lines are very lyrical, which is fine for a waltz or a salsa. But the tango is all about the sharpness, it's deliberate, it has to be "Bam!"

Sometimes you guys are a little too relaxed in your open positions, even when you're not close together, you lot need to be sharp, decisive, explosive. You characters love and hate each other, portray that and you should be fine. So just keep that in mind and practice, practice, practice!"

"Oh! And by the way, you really ought to be practising in heeled shoes by now, all of you," Josie directed a look to the girls. "And gentlemen, you also need to be practising in your heeled dancing shoes."

The group moaned collectively and Josie ignored this, she walked over to watch James and Lily's quickstep that they had started to practice.

"Well let's start dancing love," Sirius grinned.

'Don't call me love," she grumbled. Sirius laughed. "How about pudding? Or sweetums?

"Only if I can call you dumbass." She retorted. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Okay let's practice." Lea sighed.

Sirius stepped away from her satisfied and put the needle on the record again.

Sirius slowly dipped her back and ran a hand over her stomach, lightly skimming over her chest, her breast and then slid it around her neck.

"Does that bother you?" he asked struggling to keep a straight face. Lea scowled at him.

"No."

Undeterred Sirius continued to dance with her, his hands touching her in places he would never dare touch but since he had permission to, he enjoyed his newly given freedom.

Lea wrapped a leg around his waist, and stuck the other one between his leg as he spun them. Then he set her down and brought her flush against him and they tangoed backwards. Sirius slid a hand up her thigh and hooked one of her legs again around his waist and she stretched the other one out and went limp as he dragged her across the floor.

Lea spun out of the hold and circled around him with sharp eyes, her hips swaying alluringly as her face remained strangely calm. She kicked sharply and then put her hands on his shoulders and pushed her chest against his as he stepped backwards, stretching her parallel to the floor in a graceful arc.

"Does it bother you when I do that?" she challenged.

"No." he replied composed.

Lea huffed in response and Sirius stood her back up. He grabbed her waist and flipped her over in the air and held her up above his head.

She shrieked. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Mr. Black be careful!" Josie cried upon watching the couple.

"It's a move called "The Drop," James and I practised it," he said with a strained voice, "When I let go, spread your legs out in a "'V' and stick out one arm," he instructed.

"Huh?" but she didn't receive an answer because Sirius dropped her lickety split and she extended one arm out and stretched her legs.

Effortlessly, Sirius' hand shot out and grabbed her arm and her leg, holding her just so she was hovering centimetres off the floor. Then he gently eased her down and she brought her knees close to her and he spun on the floor on her bottom. She stretched out both her hands and Sirius pulled her up and spun her into him and held her close.

The Gryffindors clapped. Josie even looked impressed. "Very nice, Mr. Black."

"That was awesome!" she exclaimed her eyes bright.

"Want to try it again?" he grinned.

"Yes? How many times did you have to practice it with James before actually mastering it?" she asked amazed.

"Ten…twenty…thirty times? James has a lot of bruises on one side of him," Sirius smirked remembering their many attempts.

"I'm going to get you for that!" James called out to him and Lily struggled to keep her face straight.

"Seriously that was so cool. Flip me again!" she commanded.

Sirius complied and turned her around him. As he did, he easily lifted her up by her waist and flipped her over so that he was holding her back against his head. Then he hoisted her above his head and spun them around multiple times.

Lea began laughing as he continued to spin them and then without warning he dropped her as he had before and neatly held her above the floor.

However instead of letting go he braced some of her weight on his left foot and spun them around across the floor.

"So I'm thinking, that at the end of the dance, we could do something like this, and then I can throw you across the floor, you would slide across the floor and hold your arms out as if you were calling after someone but that person left anyway." He said looking down at her.

"Show me," she replied.

Sirius removed his foot from her leg and she instinctively held her legs a little higher as he spun her once, twice then let go with her in a sweeping motion.

However she did not slide across the floor as envisioned. Instead she ended awkwardly on her butt.

Lea looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You were saying?"

"Okay so we'll think of a different way of to execute that," Sirius replied sheepishly.

"God help me," she muttered.

"It's a work in progress!"

* * *

After dance practice the Gryffindors spread themselves out and about throughout the dormitory and Common Room. As it was Friday, some were hanging out, others were doing homework, some were playing Exploding Snap. The atmosphere was cheerful, festive like, with the garlands draped around the room for Christmas and the ever lasting candles casting playful shadows on the walls.

Sirius flopped onto the couch after he had showered and let out a sigh of satisfaction as he stretched out. Remus looked over at him with a sour look. He had his book bag slung under his shoulder and a telescope under his arm. Marlene gave him a quizzical look.

"Where's Lily and James?" Remus asked the duo.

Sirius shrugged. "They're studying," Marlene supplied.

"Studying studying or studying each other's mouths?" Sirius asked through closed eyes.

"Probably a little bit of both," Remus sniggered. Marlene settled herself into an armchair. "Peter's in the library,"

"What? Without us? Shocker!" Sirius deadpanned. Remus prodded him with the tip of his wand.

"Hey, he's our mate. Be nice!"

"He copies off my homework!"

"**You** copy off my homework!" Remus exclaimed exasperated.

"Okay so he's copying your homework. Point is he's copying off someone!"

"Well now that he's in the library alone, he has no one to copy off of." Remus replied wryly.

"Where are you off to Remus?" Marlene inquired changing the subject.

"To the Astronomy Tower for some extra credit assignment. I bet I'll be the only one up there. It's going to be SO exciting, me, myself and I and the universe. What a Friday night." He replied sarcastically.

"You want company?" Marlene suddenly asked surprising them both. Remus blinked then replied hurriedly as if she was going to retract her question, "Yeah, sure!"

She got up. "Just let me get some more layers on. It'll be freezing up there."

"Sure," said Remus. Marlene dashed up the staircase shouting she'd be back in a minute.

Sirius cracked open an eye. Innteeeerreesssing. Peter was in the library, James and Lily were studying and now Remus and Marlene were going to hang out. Which left him by himself.

Lea was by herself too he assumed. He grinned to himself.

Remus noticed this and flicked Sirius' forehead lightly. "Oi I know that grin. That's your 'I-Have-To-Do-Something-Evil" grin."

"Well…not evil persay. But don't worry no one is going to end up in the hospital wing." He laughed.

"I really hope not. With the dance competition being so close…" Remus trailed off as he spotted Marlene coming towards him.

"All right I'm all bundled up, let's go!" she said cheerfully. Remus smiled at her.

Sirius sat up and held up a hand. "Hold it, before you, Marlz could you do me a great big favour and levitate me up the Girl's staircase?"

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes.

"To do what I do best, annoy Lea!" Sirius replied brightly. Remus snorted and Marlene took out her wand.

"Fine," she sighed. "Just don't annoy her so she ends up giving you antlers again,"

"It was only that ONE TIME!" Sirius reminded them loudly as he felt himself lifted into the air.

* * *

A/N:_Well writing the next chapter will be amusing._ **_Be good and please review! xoxoxo_**


	26. Last Friday Night

_A/N: Whoa, 100+ reviews? That's never happened before. Anyhooo, **thank you** so much for your support, alerts **and of course your reviews**. I'm still replying to some of you, I've been fairly busy with starting a new job and moving. ANYWAY. Chocolate to anyone who can catch the "Friends" reference in there Enjoy and let me know what you think!_

* * *

_"A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world,"_

-Leo Buscaglia_  
_

Lea stepped out of the bathroom toweling her wet hair and groaned loudly when she Sirius sprawled across her bed.

"Get off my bed!"

"Put some shoes on—" he began saying only to have her interrupt him.

She waved her arms out in protest. "NO, NO, NO, NO. I am NOT dancing right now! We just had practice for pete's sake, we can dance tomorrow, it's Friday night, I AM NOT PRACTICING!" she shouted stomping her foot.

Sirius laughed. "Relax Lea, did it ever occur to you that when I come to find you, that I don't always want to do purely school stuff? That I just wanted to hang out? Cos we're mates and all that."

"Oh." She said a little stupidly.

"Anyway," Sirius said breezily. "Everyone is busy doing their respective things, the dorm is off limits for a while cos of Lily and Prongs, so I thought maybe you'd like to hang out."

Lea ran a brush through her hair and Sirius saw, for the first time properly down from its usual ponytail or bun. Curly and dark, it fell past her shoulders. He liked it.

"You should wear your hair down more often," he observed. Lea gazed at him mildly in the reflection of the mirror.

"I'll take that into consideration," she replied affably as she rubbed some cream on her face. Satisfied she turned around and leaned against the bureau. "So what'd you have in mind?"

"Nothing in particular, I'm kind of hungry," he shrugged.

"Well all we have here is chocolate, apples and some questionable crisps." She replied. Sirius smiled. "I had something else in mind, want to accompany me?"

Lea studied him for a moment. Then she grabbed a jumper, tugged it over her head and shoved her feet into her trainers. "Sure, lead the way."

* * *

"Whoa!" Lea stared up at the giant pear.

"Yeah it kind of smacks you in the face," Sirius replied. He reached over to the giant painting and tickled the Pear.

Amazed, Lea watched as the Pear squirmed and wriggled about. Then the painting swung open towards them and the pair moved to the side.

"What is this place?" Lea peered into the entrance. Sirius impatiently grabbed her hand and tugged her over the threshold.

"It's the kitchen of Hogwarts," Sirius promptly said as he led them through the hallway.

She stopped in her tracks and Sirius felt himself being jerked back a little. "Oi I'm hungry here!"

"Holy cow LOOK AT THIS PLACE!" she swooned.

Several industrial sized stoves and ovens lined the walls. There were four long tables that resembled the House Tables in the Great Hall that were now empty. Gleaming refrigerators rested against another side of the kitchen.

But what most astounded her was the amount of little House Elves that were zooming about the place. They were all dressed neatly into a tea towel togas with the Hogwarts crest stamped on them. One of them spotted them and careened over to them.

"Master Sirius! How eez is you?" he squeaked and clapped his hands.

"Evening Mr. Tuppy! I'm doing quite well, how are you?" Sirius asked kindly.

Mr. Tuppy, blushed furiously as being addressed as "Mr". "Tuppy eez fine sir! Where are the rest of the Sirs?"

Lea gleaned from this that the Marauders must make frequent visits here. "Oh they're doing their own things, but I did bring my friend here, this is Lea," he introduced her with a flourish.

Lea smiled and crouched so she was almost eye level with Tuppy. She stuck out a hand. "Hi,"

Tuppy's eyes went wide and he stared at her outstretched his hand, then he looked at Sirius, who nodded encouraging. Tentatively he shook her hand. Lea stifled a giggle. He was too cute.

"So we were a little hungry Mr. Tuppy and was wondering if we could get anything to eat, and just hang out here for a little bit." Sirius said.

"Of course! Anything for Master Black and his friend, Missus Lea." Tuppy squeaked.

A group of House elves directed them towards a table and they took their seats. Sirius looked over at her. "So anything in particular you want? I'm gonna go for some apple crumble cake."

"I can have anything?" she asked disbelievingly. He nodded. "Anything. You name it, they will bring it."

"Anything, anything?" she repeated. He rolled his eyes. "Ask and you shall receive my lady,"

"All right, I could use some pie…cherry pie is my favourite," she said.

"Okay then! Mr. Tuppy, I'd like some of the Apple Crumble Cake that was served at dinner and Lea would like some cherry pie,"

"With a piece of hard cheese on top," she added. Sirius looked at her strangely and she blushed faintly.

"It's the way my Mum and I eat pie," she explained.

"Of course! We will be right back with your food!" Tuppy said as he scurried away.

In the meantime two female House Elves had pushed two steaming cups of hot chocolate with gigantic marshmallows floating in them towards them. Lea nodded in thanks and took a sip.

"My god," she moaned.

"I know, best hot chocolate ever!" Sirius said raising his cup. She clanked her cup against his in good spirits.

"So how'd you come across this place?" she asked him as she dug into her piece of pie.

"We like to wander a lot…usually after hours when we have the castle to ourselves. We came across this place in our Third Year," Sirius replied attacking his piece of cake.

"Is there where you get all your party supplies?"

"Pretty much yeah" he answered not wanting to give away all their secrets.

They sat there enjoying their desserts and chatting. Sirius was enjoying himself immensely.

"How'd you get that scar?" he asked.

"Which one?"

"The one here," Sirius drew his finger softly over the scar that snaked from her left eyebrow to her temple.

He felt her shiver involuntarily and inside of himself he cheered for himself. So she was affected by him!

"Oh that one," she said dismissively. "My brother Charlie levitated me out of a window, except the window was closed so I crashed through it instead a cut myself on the glass."

Sirius choked on his cake. "What?"

"Accidents happen a lot in our house,"

"You crashed through a window?"

"Yeah. When I was seven, my other brother Leon accidentally disarmed and sent me flying over the neighbors yard and I got caught in the fence. That scar is huge and on my back." She rattled off.

"Can I see it?" Sirius asked curiously. She shook her head. "Not here, not in front of the house elves!"

"Okay later on, I'm gonna hold that to you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"You have five brothers right?"

"Yeap. Five brothers and me. We make quite a family." She said.

"Did they go to Hogwarts?"

"Two of them did, but they're a lot older than us. The rest of them went to Beauxbatons since mum is French."

"Five brothers and you never had to deal with them going to school with you at the same time. You're lucky."

"I guess. Regulus is a pain the arse huh?"

"He's a major pain in my existence," Sirius replied shortly. He was here with a girl he liked, he did not want to talk about his little brother.

"At least you're more handsome than him," she said taking a sip of her drink.

Sirius smiled. "Oh yeah?"

"Sirius, I have told you many times that you are very attractive, we all know this. And by we, I mean the entire school, the ghosts, and the people in the paintings!" she said loudly.

He laughed and shook his head. "So do you have any moves? Or do your looks alone just get the girls?" Lea asked.

Sirius was surprised that she, of all people, would ask him this. This girl was full of surprises. He sat back and leaned against the table.

"To be honest, my looks alone kind of got the girls, I usually just look at them directly, maybe I'll wink. It depends on the girl. Come to think of it I don't really have moves," Sirius said thoughtfully.

She gave him a doubtful look and he nodded earnestly. "No really, I don't have any seduction moves. I just kind of look at girls and then they come to me,"

"Like a moth to a flame," she deadpanned. Sirius chuckled.

"And what about you? Lily told me you liked to go punk shows and that you just turn on a switch and yeah."

Lea waved her hand dismissively. "I don't turn on a switch, I just show a different part of me that I don't show in school."

"So? Your moves?"

"I don't know if they're moves or not, but I'm like you. I like to look directly at the guy, but I give him a long look over, I look him up and down, when I'm looking my up, I do it slowly," she said as she looked him over.

Sirius felt goosebumps erupt over his skin. "And then, when I make eye contact, I like to wink really slowly, with one eye, all slow and deliberate," she murmured as she slowly winked at him with an intense eye.

Her heated gaze entranced Sirius. Her eyes were endless. She gave him a slow, easy, small smile.

"Yeah that will definitely work on a bloke," Sirius managed to get out. Lea smiled craftily at him.

"Your eyes are lovely," he blurted out.

She looked at him, her eyes twinkling at this. "Thank you, you have nice eyes as well. They remind me of the cloudy skies over the beach on some days."

Sirius felt his mouth curve upwards.

"So what other moves you got Miss de Tourval?" he inquired cocking his head to once side.

She shrugged. "I don't have that many moves I use, it depends on the guy I'm interested in. But, I do have this one move."

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Forget it, let's move on to a different subject,"

Sirius wanted to know but he knew she'd never tell him unless she wanted to.

"Did you always want to be a Healer?"

"Yes," Lea replied immediately. "I sustained a lot of injuries growing up with my brothers and I liked watching my Mum heal me. It felt soothing, I felt safe."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a lip balm. She uncapped it, asking, "Did you always want to be an Auror?"

"I'm not sure. However, when I was younger I wanted to be an acrobat," Sirius began to say before loosing the thread of what he was saying. He watched fascinated as she began to leisurely apply the lip balm.

"An acrobat? Can you do any gymnastics?" she asked as she slowly rubbed her lips together.

Sirius was too busy staring at her lips, he unconsciously leaned towards her, "Huh?"

Suddenly Lea smiled at him cunningly. Then Sirius jerked his head back and his mouth dropped open. "Holy crap, was that your move?" he cried out.

"Yes sir!" she replied smugly.

Sirius was blown away. What a move!

"Liked that?" she teased.

"YA HUH! Merlin's beard Lea, you're eviiiiillllll," he drew out.

"Yes, among the many things I am," she said satisfied with herself.

* * *

While Sirius and Lea were busy discussing seduction techniques over desserts, Remus and Marlene were the sole two people in the Astronomy Tower.

Remus jotted some constellation points on his map and Marlene tipped her head up at the sky.

They had been there for about an hour now. Remus scratching away dutifully at his extra credit assignment, Marlene busy studying him and looking at the sky. It was a clear, starry night, perfect condition for astronomy homework.

"I can't find this stupid star!" Remus jerked his head away from the telescope frustrated.

"Here, let me see, what are you looking for?" Marlene asked. He pointed to a star on his map. She adjusted the telescope and peered through the lens. Her hand fumbled to find the knob to adjust sharpness. She felt Remus' larger, warmer hand cover his and guide it to the knob.

"Here," he said quietly. Marlene smiled as her eye continued to stare through the lens. Thank god she couldn't see him because he was blushing at that moment.

"Gotcha ya little bugger!" she declared triumphantly. She moved a little to the side and motioned for him to come and look through the telescope.

Remus cautiously came nearer to her, their faces were so close their cheeks practically touched. "Where?"

"Right there, see?" she said softly.

"Yeah I do," Remus squinted and came a little bit closer. His cheek brushed up against hers and he froze.

She however chose not to remark on this. Instead she lightly said, "Better jot it down on the chart."

"Yeah, thanks," Remus said distractedly.

He continued to work diligently for another twenty minutes before he shoved his notes and maps into his bag.

"All done?" she smiled at him.

"Yes, all done," he said returning her smile with a shy one of his own.

"God it's really beautiful out there isn't it?" Marlene gazed at the inky, starry sky. Remus looked up too.

"Look at all those stars…infinite space. It really makes you wonder," he said dreamily as his eyes absorbed the scene above him.

"Yeah it does." She agreed softly. They were standing close together, their shoulders touching each others. Remus was having a hard time preventing himself from doing anything stupid.

They were quiet for a moment. It was a nice silence, comfortable silence. It said volumes for them.

"You ever get the crazy feeling that there are other people out there staring out on different planets and looking at us?" Marlene asked half jokingly.

"Yes," He replied seriously then he mentally slapped himself. So much for preventing yourself from doing or saying anything stupid.

"Really?"

Well he might as well go all the way in his stupidity. "Yeah. I do believe that there's other life out there, watching us. You know, maybe we are the failed experiments of smarter, more powerful beings out there and planet Earth is really just a holding center for us." Remus rambled.

Marlene looked at him, her brown eyes studying him curiously.

"Ignore me and my crazy conspiracy theories," he hurriedly said. She laughed and said warmly, "Remus, you believe anything you want to believe mate, and who knows, maybe you're right, and there's a bunch of people looking at and observing us and making notes like we do in Care of Magical Creatures."

Remus smiled and stretched his arms over his head. "Thanks for your encouragement in pursuing crazy theories."

"Hey not all of them might be crazy!"

He gave her a pointed look and she tugged her coat tighter around her. He noticed this. "Want to go somewhere warmer? I'm freezing my arse off."

"Yes please!" her teeth chattered. Concerned Remus unwrapped his muffler and gave it to her. "Please take it, I don't need you to get sick before our dance."

"Thanks." She wrapped it around herself appreciatively. They began to descend down the spiral staircase.

Marlene slid him a sideways glance then lightly asked, "Are you going to the dance with anyone? Cos if not, and I realize that this is a bit late and all, that maybe you and I could go together? We're dance partners anyway so I thought why not ask you."

Remus felt his heart slam into his rib cage. She was asking him out. No girl ever did. Sure girls apparently liked him as James and Sirius had pointed out to him, but he was always too shy to ask any of them out. Girls asked Sirius out. Girls asked James out. Girls did not ask him out.

There's gotta be a catch. Too be good to true.

"Uh yeah, I'd like to go with you to the ball with you," he replied nearly tripping over his words.

Marlene smiled, pleased. "Great! This will be the first time I'm going with a friend and not a boyfriend or a date, I'm sure we'll have a nice time with everyone else."

And there it was, the catch.

Now he knew what Sirius going through and he deeply sympathized. However he felt that his case was worse, he had liked this girl for nearly and year and half and now he was "Mayor Of The Friend Zone".

Karma clearly didn't like him.

* * *

After hanging out in the kitchen Sirius and Lea wandered aimlessly throughout the school, strolling leisurely through the corridors talking. During this their shoulders had brushed against each others more than once but neither of them said anything. Just before midnight they clamored through the Portrait Hole of the Fat Lady and had been situated themselves in the squashy armchairs before the fireplace and just shooting the breeze. The Common Room was emptier now.

"Hey you lot!" Lily called cheerfully out to them as she bounded down the Boys Staircase and crossed the room to the Girls Staircase.

"I guess that means you're allowed to go to your room now," Lea bit back a smile.

"Hoo. Rah." Sirius said absentmindedly. He stared deeply into the fireplace.

Lea observed him for a moment, suddenly aware of the sharp contours of his face. He really was quite beautiful.

"What?" he asked catching her staring at him. She jerked out of her thoughts.

"You know, we've established that the whole school, yes, including me thinks you're attractive, but no, you're really…quite…gorgeous." She finished unabashedly.

"Thank you. And you just decided to say this now becauseeeeee….?" Sirius asked a little skeptically.

"The firelight changed your face, it just showed me things I've never noticed before," Lea honestly conceded.

She wasn't sure what caused her to rattle this off. She felt as if she was digging herself in to a hole.

"Such as?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. He was going to milk this for all its worth.

Lea rose from her armchair and stood before him and gently traced the contours of his cheekbones and his jaw. "This. These…are…wow."

Well once you're in the hole, you might as well dig deeper since you're not getting out any time soon right?

However for Sirius, it was more 'wow' that she was the one touching him out of dance practice. Usually it was him doing the casual slinging an arm her shoulder, or brushing against her hand at breakfast nowadays.

The gesture was intimate, dramatic, and comforting all at once. Sirius stood up from his seat and she swallowed and took a step backwards.

Warily, she eyed him. Sirius gently ran a finger over her eyebrow and then ghosted down near her eye, "You know what I think is 'wow'? Your eyes, but I've already told you that, so I'll tell you something you don't know."

He continued to trail his finger down her face, his knuckles brushing her cheek. Finally he brushed his finger of her lips and then stopped.

"I think this is 'wow,'" he said in a quiet voice.

There was nothing but breathing between the two of them. Two silhouettes framed by the firelight, their hands defining each others faces.

He wanted to kiss her. She was so close, and right there in front of him, his finger was on her lips for Merlin's sake.

It seemed like an opportune moment. But it wasn't the ideal moment he had pictured in his head.

However he might never get the ideal moment. While Sirius was busy arguing against himself, Lea stepped closer to him, minimizing the distance between them.

"Sirius?" she mumbled against his finger. His eyes flickered down to her lips. Then he looked back at her and saw that her eyes were soft and soft and soft.

He swallowed, and then removed his finger from her lips, fully intent on swooping in and kissing her

and then,

"Oi! Whose there?" a voice called out.

* * *

_A/N *evil grin* you lot are gonna kill me aren't ya? DON'T! Otherwise how will an update come? **Be good and please review! xoxoxo**_


	27. Us and Them

_A/N: *breaks out in to bhangra dance* Can I just say how incredibly** AWESOME** you lot are? Seriously, **thank you** so much for your support, alerts **and of course your reviews**. I never expected this kind of response to this fic and all of you really make this entire writing process ten times more enjoyable. Enjoy and let me know what you think!_

* * *

_"We don't waste no precious time, all my friends in the loop,"_

-Teenage Crime, Adrian Lux

Lea and Sirius jumped apart as if they had been scalded or caught in something that was highly inappropriate. Lea clapped her hands behind her back and nearly tripped over herself as she put more distance between the two to of them.

Sirius would kill the bonehead who decided to barge in on them like a Giant in a flower garden. He would kill him, then bring him back to life and then kill that person again.

"Sirius?" the voice asked. Sirius squinted and then his temper rose even further.

"Peter! What the hell are you doing here?" he sputtered.

Peter came closer in view and he looked at them quizzically. Lea muttered "Good night" and sprinted up the Girls Staircase.

"Did I interrupt something?" Peter asked slowly.

"What do you think you big prat?" Sirius growled. He stomped flat-footed up the Boys Staircase. Peter sighed and followed him in suit.

They had almost kissed. Sirius and her had almost kissed. That might have been the beginning of the end for them.

_Might have been_ was the key phrase.

Lea was surprised that she wanted to kiss him, she wouldn't think that she would want that to happen. But she did.

Christ on toast.

This was so wrong. So so wrong, they were friends. They were new friends.

But then Marlene's words echoed in her head and Lea calmed herself down as she crawled into bed.

There was nothing wrong with wanting to kiss him, the only thing that was wrong was that she once again over thinking her actions and being a big baby and making a big deal out of nothing.

That had to stop. She told herself sternly as she closed her eyes that she was going to let this go, be herself and just let things run it's course. That was the new plan and she was going to implement it right from the moment she woke up.

It was a good idea on her part. It was an even better idea to put some distance temporarily between the two of them by letting Marlene and Lily shanghai her by going to Hogsmeade to go dress shopping.

She felt comforted by being around her mates as they browsed through the racks of dresses. Thank god Marlene was there to advise her and help her find a suitable dress.

She pushed Sirius out of her head for most of the day and felt the burden of what they were and what they weren't temporarily alleviate her. She felt better and had smiled to herself remembering that moment once or twice.

"You seem different," Lily had said to her as they trudged back to their castle.

"What?" Lea had replied.

"You seem…softer." She said.

"Oh, well you know, holiday time," Lea had murmured absent minded.

"Yeah holiday time, where there's an abundance of good cheer," Marlene had mumbled under her breath.

Her roommates chose not to comment further on her newfound "softness" of her character.

* * *

Sirius on the other hand was thunderous. He spent the day shut up in the library ferociously scribbling out his Charms essay, his eyes glaring at the parchment. James and Remus gave him a wide berth as they could practically the thunderclouds over his head.

"Sirius I'm sorry!" Peter exclaimed for the hundredth time. Sirius shot him a dark look and dipped his quill into his ink pot.

Then he slumped down in his seat and threw his quill down on the table where it splattered ink over the surface. Remus sighed and waved his wand siphoning it off.

"It's not your fault Peter, it's okay." Sirius wearily said. Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on?" James asked slowly.

"I almost kissed Lea," his friend replied shortly.

James' and Remus' mouth dropped open and they stared at their mate flabbergasted.

"What?" they whispered as they were in the library.

"Yeah. We hung out on last night, we were talking and shit and then we were by the fireplace and I don't know! Somehow there was a perfectly opportune moment to kiss her, and I thought I was going to take it, and then Peter showed up." Sirius finished a little bitterly at the end.

"Way to go Peter," James gave him a sarcastic grin and a double thumbs-up. Peter saluted him.

"It's not entirely his fault. I was a class A moron and took too long." Sirius grumbled.

"What were you doing?" Remus asked disbelieving.

"Thinking!"

"Thinking?" James echoed.

"Yeah thinking about whether or not to kiss her!"

"Since when do you think about that kind of stuff?" James asked incredulously. Sirius directed a hex towards him and he ducked.

"Shut up will you?"

"I can't believe you. This is the first time you weren't you when it comes to girls!" James persisted.

"Congratulations, you've made a prat of yourself," Peter added.

Sirius moaned and thumped his forehead against the desk.

"So what are you going to do now?" Remus finally asked.

"I honestly don't know. I haven't seen her all day. And then when I do finally see her, I don't what to do or what to say."

"Sirius, remember when I told you that you're a big boy and that you have to make your own decisions about what you want to do about her?" Peter asked in a serious voice.

"Yeah…"

"Well, now you have to decide whether or not you want to toe the line of your friendship and pursue something more."

"But what if she doesn't want to?" Sirius asked a little worriedly.

"You're Sirius Fucking Black!" James began.

"Is that my real name now?" Sirius asked a little frustrated.

"Yes," he replied promptly. "Anyway, that's never stopped you before. You always got the girl, you always get the girl!"

"James, I realise now that you have Lily your knowledge of the outside world, the REAL world has decreased dramatically, but there's a difference to getting a girl to make-out with and a girlfriend who likes you or can stand you being an egotistical maniac." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Well at least you acknowledge that you are an egotistical maniac!" Peter said brightly. Sirius chucked a piece of crumpled parchment at his head.

"So what are you going to do?" Remus asked.

"Nothing. I have to see what her reactions is when she sees me first," Sirius said grimly.

"And then?" James asked.

"if she looks as me as if she wants to kill me then well I know not to do anything stupid and just settle for being friends. If she looks at me and she doesn't want to kill me or throw me off the Astronomy Tower then, then I'm going to do what I do best."

"Ravish her after you rappel down the Girl's dormitory?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"HEY IT WAS ONLY ONE TIME!" Sirius said loudly. Someone shushed him. Then he added a little smugly, "I'm going to try and persuade her to change her mind."

"How?"

Sirius said nothing but James caught the seriousness in his mate's eyes and a slow smile spread across his face.

"That's my boy,"

* * *

Sirius felt better now that he a loose outline of what he was going to do depending on how she reacted to seeing him. With a calmer sense of being, Sirius tackled his remaining homework with a renewed energy and temporarily pushed his girl problem aside.

The day passed relatively quickly for both parties involved. The girls opted to do their homework in their dorm after returning from Hogsmeade and the Marauders had made themselves comfortable on the couches poring over their Marauders Map. When Marlene and Lily bounded down the stairs for dinner, the boys looked up expectantly and Remus inquired how their day went.

"Oh well enough I suppose. At least we got our dresses thank god," Marlene replied sitting on an arm of the couch.

"We got a good chunk of our homework done too, do you lot want to hang out tonight? We're a little fed up with studying and dancing." Lily added.

James and Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Where's Lea?" Remus asked sliding Sirius a sideways glance.

"She's coming I think. She was just wrapping up her Arithmancy essay. Shall we get going?" Lily suggested shoving her hands in her jumper pockets.

"Yes, get going!" a voice called out as it came down the staircase. Lily and Marlene began to walk towards the Portrait Hole however the Marauders hung back and Peter, James and Remus watched Sirius as he watched her appear.

They studied their mates very closely, not wanting to miss a thing so they could analyse it play by play afterwards. Sirius ran a hand through his hair, a trademark sign that he used when he was nervous, tired or befuddled and said "Hey,"

"Hey Sirius," Lea replied with a small smile on her face, she looked at him with gentle eyes. There was something more to them as well, but the boys couldn't quite put their finger on it.

She joined Lily and Marlene and Sirius let out a breath of relief that he wasn't aware he was holding.

"Well? C'mon then! We're hungry!" she said turning towards them and gestured to them.

* * *

To Sirius' disappointment she did not sit next to him at dinner, but rather across from him. That too bothered him because he was too busy looking at her and missed his fork more than once.

She was relaxed, there was an easiness to her gestures, the way she talked, Sirius mused as he gave up on eating and settled for drinking his water slowly. He didn't say much at dinner, but that was okay. The Marauders themselves could provide more than enough conversation without him.

He took this as a good sign and thought carefully how he was going to go about showing her how he felt, how he could change her mind. The most important thing was that he could not use his usual bravado and end up acting like a prat. She obviously wasn't those kind of girls who found cockiness appealing, and he knew his looks alone wouldn't do enough to change her mind. He'd have to dig deeper, show her that he was serious in his intentions of wanting to pursue more than a friendship.

Somehow, he also inferred that she wouldn't be impressed by any big, sweeping gestures. Nor would sexual aggressiveness be the right way to go to.

Girls might be very good at driving blokes insane, he would admit that. But he also liked how each girl was a puzzle. They were made out of hundreds, thousands of different pieces. It was fun trying to figure out each individual part of them that made them up.

To be very honest, Sirius never truly put in any effort to any of his previous short-term girlfriends or dates before. He was usually too preoccupied by the physical distraction they gave. He had never really invested time into getting to know a girl because he was too busy with homework, Quidditch and his friends. Most of the girls he did go out with had the bad habit of dropping words like "commitment" and "serious relationship" or just got too bloody clingy too fast. It put him off and he usually ended up shoving them away from him as fast he could.

He realised now, that he was a pig and that girls deserved to be treated better. But after all, he was still shy of eighteen and still had years of learning to do. But sometimes he mentally slapped himself when he remembered just how poorly he treated some girls. It embarrassed him and he wish he could go back in time and hit his former self with his wand for being so pig headed.

And now, karma was clearly giving him a swift kick in the butt because after the years of skirt chasing, he had stumbled across the one girl who was the most intricate puzzle he had ever come across. Sirius wasn't quite sure what exactly he was going to do but he did feel a small flame of hope ignite within him when he saw her relaxed manner towards everyone and him.

* * *

_A/N: Show your favourite, ridiculous yet loveable hero your support in pursuing the girl and **be good and review please!** =] xoxoxo_


	28. Now I Wanna Be Your Dog

_A/N: As always, **thank you for support, praise and your reviews.** You lot are really incredible and I can't thank you enough. So I've been fairly busy moving and getting settled and I just realise just how much crap I've accumulated over the years which is ridiculous and irks me to no end. Any case, this was prolli one of my all time favourite chapters to write because it was drawn from personal experience, this is also one of those rare chapters where you can glean a lot about myself as a person too, so enjoy and let me know what you think!_

* * *

_"Now I'm ready, to close my mind, and now I'm ready to feel your hand, and lose my heart on the burning sands,"_

-The Stooges

Towards eleven at night Sirius barged in unabashedly into the dorm room and James and Lily broke apart and sheepishly looked at him.

"Hey mate," James said still a little red.

"Hey," Sirius said breezily as he came right up to them. He spotted the textbook and parchment between the couple.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting your…studying…" Sirius paused at the word chuckling at it, "But I was wondering if I could steal some of Lily's attention from you Prongs,"

"Sure, what's up?" Lily answered ignoring James' open mouth.

"I'd like to know what kind of music Lea is into. She likes punk yeah, what's her record collection like?"

Lily thought for a moment and then said, " Like you said, she loves punk, but her record collection is quite eclectic, she has everything from opera to old show tunes to mainstream songs of the day."

"Any favourite band?"

"She has a lot of records of Led Zeppelin, The Velvet Underground, MC5, Iggy Pop and The Stooges,"

"Iggy who?" James asked.

"Iggy Pop. He's an…interesting looking man…but he sings very well." Lily commented.

"Okay that's good…what else?" Sirius inquired.

"A lot of British Invasion kind of stuff….The Clash, The Sex Pistols… doesn't like The Beatles though, she likes that American band….The Ramones…she's got quite a bit of psychedelic music as well."

"She doesn't like The Beatles?" Sirius said incredulously.

"Psychedelic?" James asked confused.

"Like Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane. America has some very good musicians."

"So it seems." James remarked.

"She loves the Runaways, since they're an all girl group, they sound pretty sexy actually." Lily said without thinking.

"Any song she particularly loves or listen's to all the time?" Sirius asked.

"'_Now I Wanna Be Your Dog'_ by Iggy Pop and The Stooges," she answered immediately. "And I know why, it's an amazing song, it's sexy and raw and emotional. She also likes to play "_Stairway to Heaven_", "_When The Levee Breaks"_ and "_Trampled Underfoot_" by Led Zeppelin a lot. There's a lot of music she plays Sirius, you'd have to go through her record collection honestly," she finished.

"Thanks. Any chance she'll let me borrow some?"

"I don't now. Maybe if you ask her _very_ nicely. She's fiercely protective of her records." Lily said doubtfully.

Undeterred by this Sirius nodded satisfied. "Okay, as you were, go back to your studying." He laughed again at that word.

Lily stuck out her tongue and gave Sirius a little push. "Go bother someone else now,"

By luck Sirius ran into Marlene who was downstairs talking with Remus and Peter and asked her to levitate him up the Girls Staircase yet again. He stared at the "**ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK, FREE THINKER'S ONLY**" sign and could hear faint sound of music coming through the door. He politely knocked.

"Come in!" A muffled yell came out. Sirius pushed open the door and cautiously entered the room.

Lea was on her stomach once again engrossed in _From Here To Eternity_. He was surprised to see her not studying.

"Hey," he said.

She looked up and gave him a friendly smile. Sitting up she replied "Hi,"

"I was wondering, and if it's okay if you don't want to, if I could borrow some of your records? I feel the need to expand my musical knowledge." He said.

She was quiet for a moment and then got up and crouched before the gramophone where a large crate of was situated in front of it. "Sure, help yourself. Just be veeeeeerry careful don't get any scratches on them okay?"

Sirius broke out in a wide grin. "Thank you! Whose this by the way?" referring to the music that was currently playing.

"The Velvet Underground," she said in a satisfied voice.

"Help yourself," she gestured towards the crate. Sirius began rifling through the record sleeves.

The Clash. The Ramones. AC/DC, Aersosmith. Jethero Tull, The Sonics, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream. Some of the names just astounded him. He had never heard of some of the bands. He vaguely recalled Remus mentioning The Sex Pistols to him.

There was easily over a hundred records stuffed into the box. He picked a few at random and held them up to her. "Are these any good?"

"They're all good in their own ways, but you've got some good choices here. Here, take this one," she handed him an Iggy Pop and The Stooges records.

"Oh and this one! _Led Zeppelin IV_ is incredible. It will blow your mind away!" she said excitedly thrusting the record into his already full hands.

"Thanks," he gratefully. She must really love music, Sirius had rarely seen her get so excited over anything except for maybe when she was taking about reading, and even then she was fairly composed. But now her eyes were sparkling and she was talking about all these bands, dropping dates and songs out of nowhere, he wasn't listening to anything she way saying. He was occupied studying her facial expressions.

"You really like music don't you?" he asked with a faint smile. Lea looked at him with serious eyes. "No Sirius, I love music. Music saves me, it transports me, it heals me and it makes feel alive. Sometimes it gives me an out-of-body experience."

She was a very intense person, he thought to himself. Never had he seen a person talk about music like this.

"What do you mean by out-of-body experience?" he asked curiously.

Lea looked at him with disbelieving eyes. "You ever just put on some music and just lay down on the bed, not doing anything?"

"No."

"Not ever? Oh mate you are missing out. Some music…it just transcends you into a different place, some music can literally make you feel as if your mind or soul is floating out of your body. Some music can make you feel like you feel physically lighter in your existence." She said in a fevered voice.

"Really? Music has the power to do that?" he asked doubtfully.

"Music has the power to do anything. Here, let me prove it to you."

Lea sifted though through the records quickly and then pulled out a record with interesting cover art. Carefully putting the record on the gramophone she lovingly pressed the needle down and turned up the volume. Silence filled the room and she flopped back on her bed.

The silence continued and then Sirius began to hear the faint notes of someone talking and strangely, a cashier's till floating out. He looked at her. She hesitated before scooting over and gestured with her hand, silently giving him permission to encroach on her private territory.

He eased down beside her and then heard a woman wail before the guitars washed over them.

Sirius looked sideways at her and saw that she had closed her eyes and had her arms thrown above her head. Her chest rose gently up and down as she breathed. Sirius took a deep breath himself and closed his eyes too.

The music caressed the pair of them with its melodious tune and the haunting vocals. Sirius had no idea who it was but he could feel his body loosening up.

At some points the music sounded very strange, with funny beeps and normal talking going on, then at other's it sounded like a great big chorus was singing. They remained quiet for nearly fifteen minutes and then Sirius nearly had a heart attack when a woman's shrieking vocals came on. She wailed and wailed and wailed, the drums crashed through them and he felt as if he could feel a church organ somewhere in there.

"Whoa," he whispered as the woman continued to shriek. Then she lowered her voice.

"I know," Lea replied reverently her eyes still closed.

She was right. This music did something to him, he could feel the very blood in his veins stop moving, his body feeling lighter and lighter. A strange kind of stillness came over him.

As the music wore on, Sirius felt his head become lighter, airier, his mind empty of all thoughts, including the thoughts of the girl who lay beside him. He felt infinite, he felt alive. He felt the full weight of his existence.

They were close, shoulders touching, but Sirius wisely kept his hands folded on top of his stomach. It wasn't the right time, this was more of his time to realise that he was so much more, that there was so much more out there. This was the time to revel in this new found feeling of being.

They remained silent for a long time as the music continued to play. Sirius never wanted this to end. This, he, feeling like this, with her right beside him, experiencing the same feeling of absolute being, was perfect. He wanted to immortalize this moment forever.

When the last note of the song finally faded into the air, Sirius opened his eyes slowly and stared shocked at the ceiling of the bed canopy.

"Oh my god," he whispered. He was afraid of talking in his normal voice, as if that would disturb this precious equilibrium that the air held.

"I know," she softly said. "I know."

* * *

Sirius pushed the patience of his roommates dearly over the next two days, closing the bed hangings around him and listening to every record he had borrowed from Lea. Then he made his roommates go bonkers as he played the record that Lea had played him on Saturday night over and over again. He only got up on Sunday to eat his meals and shower, and after Monday's lessons were over he was in bed again listening to the record. Even after dance practice he shut himself away in his bed listening to the music.

Pink Floyd.

That's what she had played for him.

Pink Floyd's _Wish You Were Here_ to be exact. And the song with the shrieking woman was "The Great Gig In The Sky".

He got the same feeling he felt on Saturday night listening to them, and the same feeling when he listened to Led Zeppelin's _Stairway to Heaven_.

Music had never held such a hold on him before. He had never really paid that much attention to music. But now, all he could do was revel in the sheer brilliancy of it.

He might have been driving his roommates bananas but Lea was bent on torturing him. On Monday night's practice she came in a tight tank top leaving her arms tantalizing bare and he could see the subtle muscles that flexed whenever she moved her arms. Now that they were in small groups for their dance practices, the dress code had relaxed a little and girls came in tank tops or shorts with leggings or just shorts. He was dying.

So on Tuesday Sirius decided to take action once again trying to karma to be on his side. Armed with one of Lea's favourite records, a couple of candles and his wand he marched straight into McGonagall's empty classroom and went to work. He had given Lily a note to pass onto Lea that said to meet him for practice at nine p.m.

He lit a few candles and put them strategically around the classroom. They were there less for romance and more of an alternate light source. He also knew if he lit a hundred candles and put them around the room it would either scare her, or piss her off. He had no intention of encouraging either reaction out of her.

As he put the needle on the record, he heard the door open and Lea's voice called out to him in the darkness. Swiftly he grabbed her arm and yanked her so that her body was flush against his. Then he put a finger on her lips.

Then, Iggy Pop's "_Now I Wanna Be Your Dog_" floated out and the sensual, jangling notes swept all around them.

He said nothing but instead starting to lead them in their free style tango. Never would he have ever imagined that he would be tangoing, much less, to a rock song.

The pounding, single-note piano riff added a deeper note of sensuality to the dance and his hand slid smoothly up her thigh as he moved them across the floor.

Her eyes were dark and she looked at him through a thick forest of lashes. When Sirius bent her at her waist she sighed as he lazily skimmed the length of her body with his nose. She fisted a hand in his hair as he slowly brought her back up.

Their steps were sharp, deliberate and bold, everything, a tango should be. Wearing heels definitely did her justice, he thought distractedly as he watched her hips sway whenever she strutted around him.

He was exceptionally pleased to feel her hands on his hips, his neck, his shoulders as they danced. Usually she kept them at his waist when they were in closed hold. But now, it was her slim fingers that was getting Sirius' skin flushed.

Every time he flipped her, or held her in a lift, or when she threw her legs over his leg or around his waist, he reeled with the simple pleasure of feeling her body against his. The music definitely added to the liquid peace that was currently circulating in his body.

She slid her clever fingers up his arms, her fingers ghosting over his glistening skin. Sirius mentally counted to ten in his head, slowly, as he felt painfully aware of her teasing touch. But he kept his resolve firm and kept on dancing, his body attuned to the rhythm of the dance after dancing for the last eight weeks. Whenever her eyes met his, he was met with a heated, intense, heavy lidded look. His own eyes had darkened and his mouth was set in a dangerous, tight-lipped line.

It didn't matter that the song didn't have the right beat or rhythm for a tango. What mattered was that it had the mood down to a it and it coaxed every emotion they needed to feel to put into the tango.

Although the song was barely three minutes long, (Sirius had checked the record cover sleeve, the song was exactly three minutes, and ten seconds), it seemed like they had been dancing for an eternity.

The song ended and static silence filled the room. To his utter surprise she didn't step away from him like she normally did after they had finished dancing. He felt her body go limp against his and she wet her lips with her tongue. Sirius closed his eyes tight and fought to control himself and not do anything stupid.

His mind screeched to a grinding halt when he felt her fingers gently touch his face. With his eyes still closed he said, "What?"

She said nothing but then he felt her lips press a soft kiss to his cheek.

Sirius didn't open his eyes.

They just stood there, close to each other, yet there was a sliver of space left between them, signalling just how close yet, so far they were to each other.

* * *

_A/N: As you can prolli tell, I am a music fanatic and I Wanna Be Your Dog is one my all time favs from The Stooges. **Be good and review please!** =] xoxoxo_


	29. Lust for Life

_A/N: As always, you guys are **so** amazing, the alerts, the favs, the reviews, all of it, is so so appreciated. **Your reviews really encourage me** to write consistently even as we get towards the end. Enjoy, read and let me know what you think_.

* * *

_"I'm in too deep, and I'm trying to keep, up above in my head, instead of going under,"_

-In Too Deep

They had continued to practice after that moment when she kissed his cheek. Much was left unsaid between the two of them. Instead they focused on drawing out the emotions and sharpening their technique. On Wednesday night's group practice Josie had cried in delight when she saw them perform their free style tango for her.

"It's like a dream, it's gorgeous, it's beautiful. Keep practising and doing whatever you're doing you two. And perform the dance _exactly_ how you did it for me now on Saturday night and you may just end up being the winners." Josie gushed. She stared happily at her students.

"Thanks Miss," Sirius had said quietly. All he wanted to do was dance with Lea. And dance, and dance, and dance.

The Marauders kept a sharp eye on Sirius as he worked through his homework, it was as if he was in a daze and stared emptily into space during their lessons. Most of the professors didn't seem to mind as Christmas Break was approaching and the Winter Formal drawing nearer.

If Lea felt any different to him or towards anyone really, she kept it well hidden. She was just as cool as ever, preferring to work solo in the library when she wasn't practising. Sometimes Sirius passed by her in the library, but he never stayed, he gave her a small wave and then disappeared.

She may be very good at acting as if everything was fine, but on the inside her mind was going haywire. Her list of problems just seemed to be growing bigger by the minute.

Problem Number One: She had to perform a dance in front of the entire school on Saturday night and wasn't quite sure if she could do it.

Problem Number Two: She was performing this dance with _Sirius_.

Problem Number Three: She was performing this dance with Sirius, and she may _like_ him.

Problem Number Four: She wasn't sure if she liked him or not and was having a tough time trying to sort out her feelings.

Problem Number Five: Sirius was acting much differently around her than he ever had before. She almost wished he was acting like an egotistical maniac around her, he was easier to deal with then.

Problem Number Six: If she did like Sirius, how was she supposed to decide whether or not to put their new found friendship on the line? Was she even ready to pursue something?

Problem Number Seven: If she did like Sirius, and decided to pursue more than a friendship, and she was ready to take the next step, what was she supposed to do to let him know that?

Ugh she needed help.

Lea knew, she knew that she shouldn't over think all of this that she just be herself and let things take it's time and run its course. But she was impatient and it made her antsy and edgy leaving things up to the big guy who ran the world or to karma. So in the interest in science and human psychology, Lea decided to give a little push to direct the course in a direction she wasn't even all that sure she wanted to go in. BUT it was in the interest of science and her mental well being, and sometimes you just had to throw caution to the winds and put some controversial hypothesise out there.

* * *

Sirius could have killed Lea. He could have happily killed her, bring her back to life, and then kill her again.

She was torturing him. She was evil.

She so _good_ at being evil.

On Thursday night, she had shown up at McGonagall's empty classroom for practice in a pair of sweatpants, and a sports bra/tank top. Except the tank top cut off a few centimetres above her belly button which left Sirius to drink in her bare midriff in all of its smooth, toned glory. Goddamn her.

They had finally picked a song on Monday night's practice to perform their dance to and ever since then they had been practising to that with the exception of tangoing to The Stooges on Tuesday night.

Eight weeks had turned them from horrendous dancers to graceful, confidant, amateur ballroom dancers. They weren't perfect and they were nowhere near to dancing like the professionals did, but for a pair of seventeen year olds, they danced pretty damn well after eight weeks.

Sirius was extremely proud of himself for maintaining his composure. He focused on dancing and perfecting their moves. He focused on portraying the emotions he felt appropriately and realistically. He found himself surprised that he wanted the audience to find their dance realistic in it's emotional portrayal. He wanted the audience to care about the unspoken story.

Still, he was a guy and he had hormones so he revelled touching her skin, his hand gleefully spanning her midriff, feeling the softness of her skin. He brushed his fingers over her hipbone and she giggled and lost her concentration, stopping the dance.

"Don't touch me there! I'm ticklish!" she said. Sirius snorted inelegantly.

"I'm serious Sirius, unless you want to loose a finger or two, you best not touch me there," she warned.

He rolled his eyes and swung his arms out, stretching them. "Where else are you ticklish?"

"Ha! Like I'd tell you that. Otherwise you'll just tickle me in all of those places!"

"No! How do you know that? What if I want to know so I can know not to touch you there?" he challenged. She just looked at him with flat eyes.

"Stay away from the hipbone. And don't even try to discreetly find out other places where I'm ticklish by innocently touching them, using the dance as a cover-up for your devious explorations!"

"Devious explorations?" Sirius snickered.

"Okay, so I read a lot!"

"You're a geek." He mocked.

"Shut up! I am **not **a geek!" she slapped her hands on her hips.

"You're a great big mega geek!" he exclaimed gleefully.

"I AM WELL READ!" she said loudly.

"You're a geek, you're a geek, you're a geek," Sirius chanted. He abruptly stopped when she came right up to him and grabbed his wrists.

"If I'm a geek then you're a dumbass," she said sweetly. Sirius gave an easy grin and effortlessly broke out of her hold and instead trapped both of her hands with his. Then he brought his face close to hers and said in a throaty voice:

"Yeah, but at least I'm a good looking dumbass,"

Lea gave him a deep-seated look of annoyance. However Sirius scooped her up in his arms bridal style and spun them around quickly. He waved his wand over to gramophone to start the music again before discarding his wand on a desk.

She laughed and Sirius let go of her legs and swung her through the air with his arms.

Catching her breath she got into position and began to tango backwards to the music. "You're a cocky good looking dumbass," she said.

"Oh don't worry, I know." He bended her over his arm and slid a hand up her thigh.

"Well at least you acknowledge that," she replied with a twinkle in her eye before he lifted her back up.

* * *

While Lea and Sirius were busying tangoing and teasing each other, Lily and James were having a private practice session of their own in the Marauder's dorm. Lily had come up to find James deeply focused in his homework while munching on an apple. Sometimes it surprised her that he ate so healthy. The boy was absolutely nuts about fruit.

He had happily sent his textbooks flying across the room when she suggested they practice their group dance routine by just focusing on their solo part. Josie had all given them copies of the song they were to perform to and James obliged by putting it on the gramophone he shared with his roommates.

Instead of performing a Viennese Waltz, the Gryffindors decided to live up to the qualities of the House they were in and be brave and try to perform a salsa group dance.

Like the other Latin Dances, the salsa was passionate and sensual. However it was also more playful than the Tango or the Paso Doble and it involved a lot of hip and legwork. Lily had first felt extremely uncomfortable, gyrating her hips as Josie had instructed them. But gradually with Josie's patience and Marlene's and Lea's encouragement she became more comfortable and even became more confident in her natural sensuality.

There was a fine line between good technique and being vulgar. The last eight weeks had shown them that line.

James smiled as he felt her hands grip his hips as she continued to focus on the rhythm of the dance. He didn't say much, opting to focus on the steps and his partner. It felt nice to dance with the girl you half in love with.

_Whoa, where did that thought come from?_ James wondered as his mind began to wander away from the dance. That was okay because Lily had taken the lead and she purposely led them around the room.

Sure James had certainly _liked_ her, and lusted after her for the better part of six years. He loved many things about her, like her passion for learning and the tiny freckles that were sprinkled on her nose as if someone had done them by hand. But he wasn't sure if he loved her like that.

Maybe half loved was a good phrase. Or perhaps one third loved was a better phrase.

_Focus James!_ His brain sternly said.

Her body was soft and pliant against his and James really began to feel the beauty of the music playing and the beat instructing him what to do. Her hips swayed side to side as she danced with him. The salsa definitely favoured her and her body, he thought.

She was tall and willowy and her lines were lyrical without effort. One song seamlessly folded into the next and after a while they stopped practising their routine and instead just danced for pleasure.

James decided to take the lead and artfully skimmed his fingers up her arms and tangled a hand in her fiery locks. As she danced with less inhibition, James smiled at her and then ran a hand up and down her spine very slowly and deliberately. To his delight he saw the palest pink stain her cheeks.

She turned so her back was lightly resting against his chest and she rocked her hips from side to side and raised her arms above her head. He ran a single finger down one pale arm and lightly rested his hand on her hip as they moved together in sync. He brushed some of her hair from the side of her face and pressed a kiss to her neck. She hummed with pleasure.

They continued to dance, letting loose and just enjoying each other's company and the feeling that new couples often feel in the first glow of the relationship.

"You know, it's a really good thing we don't talk during our dances," Lily finally said. James gave her a quizzical look.

"Because you dancing alone, with all the little touches and all that, believe me, it's more than distracting!"

James stood up straighter with pride. "I highly enjoy distracting you, Miss Evans," he eyes twinkled good-humouredly.

"I'm sure you do," she breathed as she guided his hands to her hips. Then she placed her own over his and she yielded her body closer to his.

"But believe me, you've been distracting me for the better part of six years!" James said in a little strangled voice. All of a sudden the temperature had increased. Boy was it hot in here.

James casually traced the curve of her bottom and then ever so lightly danced his fingertips on the sliver skin of her lower back that was exposed because of her tank top rising up ever so slightly.

He heard her sharp intake of breath and then exhaled a deep breath himself trying to calm down his racing and inappropriate thoughts. However he couldn't resist but gently brush the side of her breast and then boldly outlined the entire curve. She was so lovely, he dreamily thought.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by her hand suddenly on top of his, the very same one that had been so bold just moments before. He looked at her ready to be chastised.

However her green eyes had darkened and she looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Want to distract me in other ways?" she rubbed her lips together.

He nodded wordlessly and she stepped back from him and snatched up her wand. He heard the lock on the door click as it locked itself.

* * *

Friday crept upon them and there was a palpable feeling of excitement in the air. Sirius had quietly joined Lea at half past five in the morning to go for a run. They ran for half an hour then practised their dance for the remaining thirty minutes. They kept the conversation light, talking about music and magic. When they began their long walk up to the castle afterwards Sirius slung an arm around her shoulder as he had seen Remus do a thousand times. He was pleased when she didn't shrug it off or shoot him a pointed look. He took this as a hopefully good sign that the day would treat him gently.

The day did go well, even Potion lessons were more bearable. The castle began to transform into a winter wonderland as the Professors worked their magic. Holly was wound around the banisters of staircases, delicate glittery snowflakes were suspended in the air, beautiful glass blown golden orbs became aerial light sources in the Great Hall.

Filch often shouted at students to get out his way as he furiously scrubbed down the castle. The portraits from the paintings winced as they gingerly touched their newly pink cheeks.

They had their last group practice that night and Josie waved her hands, quieting them. The Gryffindors looked at her expectantly. She smiled.

"I know you've heard this from Tomas and Professor Longstreet, but I just have to reiterate just how proud I am of you lot. I know that ballroom dancing is not the most exciting thing at the moment, I mean you have people crowd surfing to The Sex Pistols, but I hope you all learned something in the last eight weeks."

Lea's eyebrows rose when her dance instructor, her beautiful, graceful ballroom dance instructor mentioned the Sex Pistols.

Josie continued, "You've all worked hard the last eight weeks, especially in the last two weeks and it shows. Just remember that you're not so much dancing for the points as for yourselves. Enjoy the dances, enjoy each other's company and enjoy the accomplishment that all of you have achieved. I know this sounds cheesy, you may or may not win the three hundred points tomorrow night, but to me, you're all winners."

The group broke out into applause and after that subsided. James raised a hand and Josie nodded at him.

"Miss…we may not have started out too keen on these dancing lessons, but thank you for your time, effort and patience." He said. Marlene nodded and then added, "It was fun, sometimes frustrating, but it was nice to do something that wasn't all magic related."

The others also put in their two bit token of thanks and Josie smiled at them once more.

"All right. So tomorrow the ball will start at eight, dinner will be served at seven for those who are inclined. Your headmaster, Professor Dumbledore will introduce what you lot have been doing for the past eight weeks and then Professor Longstreet will take over from him.

The conditions will be announced to the audience and the judges will be presented. Then each House Solo Dance Representatives will come up to Tomas and I and we will be drawing who performs first.

Group dances will be performed first by each House in the order they were drawn, and then the Solo dances will be performed in the same order."

"How will we be judged?" Remus asked.

"Each dance is scored out of thirty points, each judge will give you a number out of ten. In order to win the one hundred points for the group dance, you must have the highest score out of all of them, and it's the same for the solo dances."

"So we're scored individually on our dances? We're competing on two different levels for the points?" Peter asked just to make sure he had it all down.

She nodded. "Correct. Say if you lot get twenty-eight of thirty, and that's the highest score out of the group dances, then you lot will win the hundred points. If Lea and Sirius receive a twenty-seven and the Ravenclaws receive a twenty-eight, then they would win the two hundred points."

"Aaannnd the pressure is on," Sirius muttered under his breath. Lea nudged his side softly.

"So just relax, don't overstress and most importantly, have fun tomorrow night okay? You didn't learn ballroom dancing for the points,"

"We learned it because we were engaging in inappropriate dancing that bordered on a free show before!" James interrupted. Lily giggled.

"Well, that too, you learned ballroom dancing so you could learn more about people, and your bodies, and yourselves." Josie finished. "Have a good night everyone and see you lot tomorrow!"

* * *

_A/N: We're getting closer to the dance competitions! *claps hands* but that also means we're getting closer towards the end of the story And no, don't worry, Lily and James didn't do it, I think they just had a good snogging session ;). **Be good and review please! xoxoxo**_


	30. Push and Pull

_A/N: **Thank you** guys so much for your support, alerts, favs and of course, **the reviews**. I'm going a little bonkers trying to scribble out the ending of the story so bear with me faithful readers, as I keep rewriting and rewriting. Anyhooo, enjoy, read and please let me know what you think_.

* * *

_"If you pull yourself away from love just because of a few bad experiences, you will never have any good ones_,"

The girls were relaxing by the fireplace. Remus and James were with them and were playing Exploding Snap. Peter bounded down the Boy's Staircase, spotting Lea, he said, "Hey! Sirius wanted to see you upstairs, something about tomorrow,"

She groaned. "Oh man I am NOT dancing any more! No dancing until tomorrow!"

Lily shoved her off the couch and she landed on the ground. "Oi!"

"Just go see what the poor boy wants," she sighed.

"Since when are you on Sirius' side?" Her roommate asked indignantly. "Poor boy" she muttered irritably under her breath.

Lily chose not to answer and gave her a pointed look. Annoyed, Lea looked at Marlene for support. She waved her hand towards the Boys Staircase and Lea muttered darkly under breath stomping flat footed towards it.

Feeling a little miffed at having to go to Sirius, at his beck and call, she bypassed politeness and instead just barged into the room with no effort to hide her annoyance.

"What?" she asked flatly.

"Hey!" Sirius turned to her and smiled. She softened a little bit seeing his friendly smile. "Peter said something about dancing tomorrow? Or something…?" she trailed off.

"Yeah! I just wanted to see how you were, and to tell you that I think you're going to be brilliant." He replied genuinely.

Taken aback Lea tucked a loose curl behind her ear. "Um, thanks. I think you're going to do really well too. You were really good at coming up with the lifts and stuff…what do you mean how I was?"

"Well you know, we're going to be dancing in front of the entire school tomorrow," Sirius stopped once he saw Lea's panicked expression. He mentally slapped himself.

"I forgot about that part. Oh bloody hell I have to dance in front of the whole school tomorrow night! IN A DRESS!" she shrieked clapping her hands on her face.

"Lea! Lea!" LEA!" Sirius shouted waving his hands. She didn't uncover her face. Sighing, Sirius pried her hands away from her with great effort. "Oi!"

"Lea, relax. It'll be fine." Sirius tried to reassure her.

"Oh that's bloody well easy for you to say! You're a Quidditch player! You play in front of the entire school all the time!" she retorted.

"Lea, you're a good dancer, and it's only about a minute and half of our lives. And after that, it'll be over." Sirius said. He guided her to his bed and sat her down.

Standing before her, he firmly placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. With a grave expression, he said, "Now, repeat after me, it's just a dance,"

"It's just a dance," she repeated.

"It's a minute and half of our lives,"

"It's a minute and half of our lives,"

"Everything is going to be fine,"

"Everything is going to be fine,"

"Because Sirius will not let you down," he finished.

"Because Sirius won't let you down," she eyed him suspiciously.

"Because Sirius is your mate and is totally awesome," he then added as an afterthought. He laughed when she wriggled out of his grip. "Sirius!"

"Sirius is your mate and Sirius loves his mates!" he chanted. Lea just looked at him.

"Yeah I'm definitely feeling all the love you have for me," she grumbled.

"Now you will!" Sirius sung out as he turned on the gramophone. Led Zeppelin's "_Trampled Underfoot_" blared out. He faced her with a wide grin on his handsome face.

"C'mon lets dance, let loose of all the doubts, the insecurities and every stupid thought that plagues us!" He said waving his hand grandly. Without waiting her for her answer he pulled her to her feet.

"Dancing, dancing? We can't tango to Led Zeppelin!" she protested. Sirius ignored this and twirled her.

"No, tonight, we're just going to dance for fun," he said with relish. Then he broke out in some god awful goofy moves in effort to make her realise that he was serious. She started laughing at his goofy dancing.

"You look ridiculous," she smiled.

"Yes, but I feel much better," he replied. She gave in and started to shake her hips to the beat. They danced like a pair of fools to the remainder of the song. The pair of them looked silly but they were genuinely having a good time and Lea was laughing and laughing at Sirius. He in turn felt lighter than he had in weeks.

Then the next song came on.

Sirius came up behind her and placed his hands lightly on her hips and guided her so that they moved together in sync.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. Sirius took the opportunity to lightly run his fingers up her arms, and then over her shoulders. She turned and faced him and loosely linked her arms around his neck. He slid his hands up and down her back and then lightly settled them on her bottom.

The sexual pull didn't faze him. Ever since he had been paired up with her eight weeks ago, Sirius found himself wanting to get a rise out of her. It was her eyes, he decided. It was her eyes that made him want to both bang his head against a wall and spend all of his time trying to figure out what made her smile.

Their bodies swayed together as the music slowed down and Sirius drew her close. "That's right, just dance your troubles away."

"You should become a therapist." She murmured. He chuckled and slowly spun her out and then back towards him, he lifted his arm over her head allowing her to spin under him.

He eyed her figure with a serious, watchful eye. "You're lovely," he said sincerely.

Her lips quirked in a smile. She ran her knuckles against his jawbone and then trailed a hand down his chest. Sirius turned her so her back was against his again and they continued to sway. Then he found his lips were on her sweet, sweet ear and he unconsciously closed them over the lobe and nibbled at it with his teeth.

He felt her body stiffen against his, her involuntary shudder and he gripped her hands tighter with hers. He skilfully nipped along her jaw line, he could feel her breath against his lips. Just before he reached his ultimate destination, she stopped dancing and broke out his hold. Whirling around she slapped a hand on his chest.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded with blazing eyes.

Sirius stared at her. "Kissing you?"

"No."

He blinked and then studied her for a long a moment. His grey eyes raked over her hair, her eyes which betrayed as much determination as desire. So she wanted it too.

Sirius really wanted to ignore this thunderous look and charge right on ahead and finally greedily take what he most wanted. The fact that he didn't made him sigh and kick himself for being a gentlemen, for once.

"You've got a backbone made out of sheer self-will," he finally said.

Her eyes softened and she gingerly came closer to him. "I have to. You're Sirius Fucking Black,"

"Allow me to persuade your mind?"

"I don't think so Sirius,"

His eyes chuckled at this. He brought her closer to him once again and made a slow pass up and down her back. Then he smoothed her hair and let her go.

"That's a challenge you know, but I figure that with our big dance tomorrow, I better set it aside for a little bit."

"Set it aside until after we finish performing," she suddenly said surprising them both. Lea looked at him.

His eyes became alight with hope and he skimmed a thumb over her cheek. "You're not going to sleep very well."

"No I'm not," Lea agreed.

"You're going to be thinking of me."

"Most likely," she agreed again. "Cocky bastard." She added. Sirius chortled.

He studied her again, giving her a thorough look over. Pursing his lips he regrettably said. "I said you were "lovely" earlier, I was wrong. You're bloody gorgeous. If you stand here a moment longer I'm going to stop being a gentleman and revert to being a prat and try and kiss you again."

Lea tipped back her head and laughed and laughed. "Then I'd better go." She stepped back from him and made her way to the door. Giving him one last glance at him, she gave him her "Mona Lisa" smile and said, "Good night Sirius, see you tomorrow."

"Night Lea."

Sirius walked over to his bed and flopped on it. Staring at the ceiling of the bed canopy he sighed and ran a hand over his face.

* * *

Saturday shone its face on the glistening snow covered grounds of Hogwarts and peeked into the Seventh Year Gryffindors girl's dorm room spreading it's weak rays of light through the window.

Lea sighed in contentment as she cracked one eye open. Smiling she unconsciously traced over the ear that Sirius had kissed.

Sirius fucking Black.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or kill him. Maybe a little bit of both.

Okay, maybe not kill him. Throttle him nicely for making her feel all girly and silly and stupid. And then maybe kiss him to make him feel better after getting throttled.

Well, it looks like her mind has solved one problem. She certainly did want to kiss him. Which probably meant she liked him, a tiny little bit.

Either that or she was just shallow and wanted to kiss him because he was Sirius Black. She sincerely hoped that it was because she liked him, even if it was the tiniest little bit. Otherwise she'd be a big fat hypocrite, kissing someone because they looked pretty. Yuck.

She had opted to treat herself to sleeping in instead of getting up to run. She needed to relax more and be become a little more flexible. So she wouldn't run morning. It wouldn't kill her.

She hadn't slept as soundly as she had hoped, but she still managed a good six and half hours, which was a record for her. And Sirius was right, she had thought of him. Amazing. The man was everywhere, he was in her real life and in her dreams. She'd have to pound on him for that too a little bit.

Lea stretched like a cat in her bed and she grinned at the ceiling. She couldn't stay in bed any longer. She needed to spread her new found cheeriness around. After brushing her teeth she strode over to Lily's bed and wrenched her bed hangings apart. Then she shook Lily.

Lily mumbled something and Lea prodded her some more. "Lily! Lily! Wake up!"

"It's Saturday. Isn't it the day of rest?" Lily mumbled.

"No that's Sunday." Lea corrected.

"Go away," her mate grumbled.

"Noooooo, I'm too much in a good mood." Lea brightly said.

"Girls, I am trying to sleep!" Marlene moaned. Lea looked over at her and pulled away the bed hangings too.

"You guys! This is a momentous day! I am up, on a Saturday…before noon! And I'm in a good mood! You must revel in my accomplishment." Lea exclaimed.

Sighing, Lily propped herself up on her pillow and gave her mate a sleepy look. "Congratulations Lea, we are very proud of your achievement."

"Now either shut up or go back to bed," Marlene yawned.

"You guuuuyyyyyysss," Lea pouted.

Lily rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and gazed at her roommate. Lea was standing by the window, framed by the light with her hands on her hips. "What's got you all goofy?"

"Can't tell you," she replied.

"Why not?" Lily asked with a shrewd inkling of what it was. However, she wanted to draw it out of her.

"Because it's not fully tangible yet,"

Lily raised an eyebrow. Sometimes Lea used very odd expressions to express herself. But that's okay, she still loved her.

"C'mere," Lily patted the bed cover. Lea turned and faced her and Lily nodded in encouragement.

Gleefully Lea jumped onto Lily's bed and wriggled underneath the covers. They lay there like children staring at the ceiling of bed canopy. Lily folded her hands on top of the duvet.

"Remember we used to do this when were growing up?" Lily said of their summers when they visited each other.

"Yeah, and we used to have what we thought were serious conversations for our age at that time?" Lea laughed.

"Things were simpler back then."

"We didn't know any better back then," Lea added.

Lily sighed and turned to face Lea and Lea affectionately tucked a loose lock of Lily's hair behind her ear.

"This thing that's not fully tangible…does it have to do with a certain grey-eyed marauder?" Lily asked smiling.

Lea slowly nodded. "Yeah. I wish I could tell you more but I feel stupid enough already."

"Why do you feel stupid?" Marlene asked appearing by Lily's bedside. The pair of them looked at their third roommate. Lily and Lea scooted over and lifted the covers. Marlene joined them too and they were sandwiched like sardines in the bed.

The girls didn't mind not having any wiggle room; rather they enjoyed the cosiness and closeness that enveloped them. Lea felt quite safe right there then.

"I don't know. Because it's Sirius," she said lamely.

"So?" Marlene inquired.

"I've pretty much ignored his existence for the last six years. And then suddenly he's here infuriating me and making me smile at the same time and I don't know. I think I'm more at a loss with what do with myself than him." Lea said thoughtfully.

"Explain," Lily ordered.

"Sirius Black is this gorgeous, brilliant, good guy girlies. Yeah he may do some stupid things, and say some stupid things, but tell me, what person doesn't? He has a good heart and he loves the people he cares about. Look at the marauders, they're inseparable!"

"They're thicker than thieves." Marlene agreed.

"Yeah. And I'm me, girls, I want to go places, and do things. I don't want any distractions. And Sirius…he would be such a big distraction. Plus he has goals too you know? He wants to be an Auror, and I'm sure he'll be a great one. I don't want to distract him from his goals." Lea said seriously.

"You make a fair point Lea, I can understand your hesitation." Lily replied.

Lea continued, "And we've only known each other properly for about two months. I feel like it's more important to be friends with him. To be someone he can count on or go to if he needs something."

"That also sounds like something a girlfriend would do," Marlene pointed out. Lily agreed.

"I just think it might be better to strengthen our friendship first before anything else is decided. What if we get into a relationship, it ends poorly and we never speak to each other? Then I'd lose him and the friendship. I don't want that." Lea brooded.

"You're just going to have to take a chance Lea," Marlene simply said. Lea closed her eyes.

Lily put an arm around her and Lea snuggled closer to her mate. "Lea, you can't plan every thing nor can you methodically map out every move. I understand your worries, I do, but at the same time, I'm not going to endorse playing it safe and staying on the sidelines. Sometimes you just got to take a great, big, leap of faith and hope that whoever is on the other side will stick out a hand and catch you and help you to get to the other side." Marlene said.

"What?" Lea asked not understanding her.

"She means, that sometimes you just have to put yourself out there, and take a chance. You'll never know anything until you do, that's what you told me right?" Lily said.

"Yeah,"

"And now James and I are happy, I couldn't imagine not seeing him every day now."

"But you guys were made for each other!" Lea protested. Lily shook her head.

"Relationships are hard work. Some days you work really hard at maintaining them. But it's worth it. We all know it. I mean, you put up with Fabian's crap for a lot longer than you needed to."

"Yeah and look where it got me." Lea grumbled.

"But you learned Lea. You fell down, you took your time to heal and then you got back right back up. And you never looked back. You got back up with more resolve and you're a better person I think because of it." Lily said seriously.

Lea sighed. Marlene reached over and clasped her hand. "Lea, whatever you choose to do, it's okay to be a little nervous or afraid, but take the chance and see where it leads you. That's half the excitement of life, jumping into the unknown."

"And if you get hurt, or stumble or fall, we'll be here to help you get better and than help you back up your feet." Lily finished.

Lea swallowed. It was a powerful thing, friendship. And to be so lucky to have friends like these…somewhere in past life she must have done something right.

"Thanks you lot." She said quietly.

Marlene and Lily nodded. The three girls cuddled closer to each other as they stared lost in their own thoughts at the ceiling.

After a good twenty minutes of silence or so, Marlene said, "Wow we just had a way serious conversation really early in the morning. See Lea, this is what happens when you decide to get up before noon!"

Lily giggled and Lea smiled. "Sorry. I'll take a nap in the afternoon and spare you the odds of having another serious conversation."

"Thank you!"

* * *

_A/N: Augh writing the last few chapters is proving to be so difficult, there's so much dancing! You can count on me scrutinizing a LOT of DWTS footage along with other dance movies... but never fear, there will be an ending. **Be good and review please! xoxoxo**_


	31. The Winter Formal

_A/N: I just want to reiterate how amazing all of you are, seriously, I never ever expected this kind of response to this scribbling of mine. **Thank you** so much for your support, alerts, favs and reviews**. ** We only have a few chapters left in the fic! Anyhooo, enjoy, read and please let me know what you think_.

* * *

_"Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out It's all about timing,"_

-Stacey Charter

No one bothered trying to study throughout the day. The girls decided to stay in bed and skip breakfast, munching on their stock of chocolates and sweets. They enjoyed lunch with the Marauders where they ate and laughed a good deal. Lea once again sat across from Sirius but she gave him a tiny friendly wink when she saw him for the first time that day.

Sirius sweet-talked Lea into practicing their routine two more times after lunch and the others followed in suit. Afterwards the girls opted to hide out in their dorm. Lea took a nap, Marlene and Lily quietly read or talked amongst themselves trying to keep their mounting nervousness at bay.

The boys decided to engage in a different way to relieve stress and nerves. They staged a furious snowball fight with the other Gryffindor boys from the years below. Something about pummelling each other snow helped ease their mounting apprehension. Plus it was fun. Snowball fights were always fun.

When the sun set they staggered their way back, numb, slightly bruised and freezing to the warmth of the castle. After a quick detour for some hot chocolate and cake in the Kitchen they finally made their way back to the Common Room.

"I can't believe we have to wear suits tonight," Peter grumbled. Remus agreed. Dress robes were easier to maintain, they didn't have to be ironed. Not that he or the rest of the boys ironed their clothes, but still, it's the principal of things that counted.

"And heeled shoes. Suits and heeled shoes. Can this night get anymore better?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Well at least your date is someone you like," James pointed out reasonably. Sirius grunted in assent.

"Man I hope my toes thaw out before the dance," Peter winced as he took off his boots and peeled off his socks. He plopped right before the fireplace and stuck his feet out towards the fire. He sighed in relief.

"Careful Peter, don't burn your feet!" Remus said slightly alarmed. Sirius snorted and shook his head.

"I think I'll defrost myself in the shower," James decided as he started clomping up the staircase.

"I'm gonna go shower too!" Sirius shouted following his friend in order to get his stuff.

Remus rolled his eyes. Peter glanced at him. "You know, James may be Head Boy and all that stuff, but sometimes he doesn't use his brains. He still uses those crappy showers that are for everyone else when he's got a whole stinkin Head Boy's bathroom to himself."

"So what are you gonna do?" Peter asked after Remus finished his mini-rant.

"I'm gonna go brood all my troubles away by going to the Prefect's bathroom." He replied getting up. Peter sighed. He had no access to either of those luxury bathrooms. Looks like he was stuck waiting for his turn in the crappy old showers in the dorm.

* * *

Around five o clock the Seventh and Sixth Year's dorm were transformed into a beauty parlour and dressing area. The Seventh Year's dorm room looked like a disaster zone. Clothes, socks and shoes were scattered all over the place. Make-up and hair accessories littered the surfaces of the floor, the beds and the dressers. After Marlene had nearly broken an ankle after she slipped on a tube of lipstick on the floor, Lily waved her wand and ordered the dress preparations to cease and desist

"We have got to clean this place up before someone gets hurt." She exclaimed.

Lea stepped out of the bathroom with an eyelash curler in her hands. "How the heck do you use this contraption? This looked like an eye REMOVER!" she brandished the offending object.

Marlene laughed. "First help clean up the room and then I'll curl your lashes for you."

Feeling relieved Lea gathered and armload of discarded clothes and promptly dumped them on her bed. "Done! Clean!" she announced.

"Lea!"

After cleaning the room and washing their faces numerous times trying to achieve the perfect make-up palette, the girls were finally ready. It was half past six.

Lea stared at Lily. She didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything. Lily looked at her suddenly worried. Perhaps she was overdressed or over done.

"It's too much isn't? I look like a prat." Lily said disheartened.

"No. You look perfect. Lily, you're so beautiful," Lea finally said in a slightly thick voice. She really did not have the words to describe her best mate.

"Marlene, if you don't become a lawyer, you should become a stylist or open up your own salon or something. You're amazing." Lea said still awestruck at her friend's beauty.

"Thanks. But I just had a reaaallly good foundation to work with," Marlene winked.

Lea pressed a kiss to Lily's cheek and said, "James is one lucky git,"

Lily was wearing a spring green off the shoulder dress that brought out her emerald eyes. It had a decent neckline, but that was okay because it had a very naughty slit up her leg that would make James swoon. Her fiery locks were half pulled back and Marlene had woven white magnolias in a wreath through her hair. On her neck shone a single, lone pearl. She looked soft and fresh and beautiful.

"We should get going, the boys will want to meet us soon," Marlene pointed at the clock. The other two nodded and they carefully got to their feet and started towards the door. When they reached the staircase, Marlene held them back for a moment and studied her two mate's faces.

Both shone with a loveliness that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Whatever it was she whole-heartedly approved. "You both look stunning, good luck tonight and have a good time lovelies." She said smiling.

Lea and Lily hugged her and wished her the same. Taking a deep breath Lily started to descend the staircase first. "Here goes nothing,"

"A minute and a half of our lives," Lea added before carefully following in suit.

James flexed his foot trying to break into his dress shoe even more. Sirius tapped his wand on his head. "Hey! Don't ruin your shoe even more you prat."

"It's still too stiff!" he protested.

"Life's tough. Get a helmet." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna go and meet my dance partner, I'll see you guys down there," Peter said before leaving to meet his partner. The pair of them disappeared through the Portrait Hole.

Remus took a couple of deep breaths and swung his arms around trying to calm himself down. He was nervous because of the group dance and also nervous because of Marlene. Why'd he have to be so damn nice and shy and not do anything to push the ball in his favour with girls?

"Nice guys finish last." He muttered under his breath still pacing. Sirius gave him a strange look.

"What's up Mooney? You look…tense."

"Of course I'm tense! I have to look like an idiot in front of the entire school AND I'm going with a girl who I'm nuts about, and she only likes me as a mate!" he growled.

"Welcome to the Friend Zone! We can make a club. You can be vice president." Sirius brightly said. James snorted.

"No. I'll be president and the sole member seeing as you and Lea will probably become a couple at the close of this evening. Congratulations in advance." Remus added. Sirius said nothing and James gave him a look. Sirius raised his hands.

"Oi I'm not expecting anything. I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch. First I got to focus on getting past the minute and half of my life dancing in front of the entire school."

"How very mature Padfoot," James said impressed. He shrugged. "Yeah what are you gonna do? I'm growing up. In tiny increments." He added after seeing James's disbelieving face.

"Hey!" Lily's voice said cheerfully. She stood in front of the boys.

They all looked at her dumbstruck. She looked so lovely. James couldn't speak. Sirius noticed this and clapped a hand on his mate's back. "James appears to have going through a brain freeze, but I I think I say this for all of us, Lily love, you look amazing." He finished grandly and kissed her cheek affectionately.

Lily beamed at him. James still didn't say anything. She waved a hand in front of his face. He snapped out of it.

"Hey James. Look at you all handsome in your suit!" she said.

"Thanks." James said in a slightly strangled voice. He coughed and cleared his throat. "You look so beautiful. I apologize deeply for the git I am and not saying anything when I first saw you."

Lily's bare shoulders shook and she kissed James lightly on the lips. He relaxed and little bit and drew her close to him.

"Ready to go?" Lea asked. Her eyes shone merrily at the group. Remus came over and kissed her cheek to. "You clean up really nicely Lea. You look lovely." He said sincerely.

Lea flushed with pleasure and did a little spin to indulge in herself. James laughed and shook his head. She looked at Sirius expectantly. He cocked his head to one side and offered her his hand. Taking it, he spun her slowly again, this time giving her a thorough once over. He swallowed.

She wore a one shoulder, asymmetrical dance that was a little longer in the back than it was in the front. It was cream coloured with a black lacy sheer vintage looking pattern that was layered over it. She had done something mysterious to her face, darkened her lips, deepened her eyes. Her hair was twisted in a shining bun that was situated to one side of her neck. In her hair she wore a single, blood red rose.

She looked like the perfect tango dancer.

"I don't have enough words to describe how nice you look," he said sincerely.

She nodded and her eyes gave him a soft look. For her, that was more than enough.

"Well, let's get going then, " Marlene said to the group. They nodded and began making their way to the Portrait Hole.

As they entered the main hallway and started their long walk to the Great Hall, Sirius proffered his arm to Lea who graciously accepted. She tucked her arm in his and they walked in a comfortable silence. Then Sirius said, "Ready to do some serious arse kicking?"

"Like you wouldn't believe,"

* * *

Remus eyed Marlene surreptitiously. He was too nervous to eat the delicious dinner that was being served.

She wore a fiery red number that glittered in the light with a full, ruffle-ly, playful skirt that brought out her blonde hair and complimented her peach skin. Her hair was twisted off to one side leaving one side of her neck gloriously exposed. Large gold hoops hung from her ears.

"You need to eat something," she insisted. She passed him the plate of potatoes.

"I'm a little too nervous," he said weakly. Then he nearly fainted when she felt her warm hand on top of his.

"Remus," her brown eyes shone with warmth. "Relax. It's a minute of half of our lives,

and then we can relax and just have fun. Trust me, tonight's gonna be a good night."

"Okay," he sighed. The weirdest thing was that he did trust her. He didn't know why.

The clock struck eight and Dumbledore stood up. He wore a magnificent of midnight blue star spangled dress robes. He stretched his arms out. Beaming he surveyed his students.

The school quieted down. " Welcome, welcome to the annual Winter Formal. I must say that each of you look absolutely lovely."

He paused and then lowered his arms. "Tonight, we have a special opening for the dance. The Sixth and Seventh Years of each house have been taking ballroom dance lessons for the past eight weeks.

Tonight, they will all show you, what they have learned and hopefully inspire you to take the art of dancing more seriously, and influence your own style of dancing," his eyes twinkled and the school collectively tittered.

"And with that, I give you Professor Longstreet!"

The students clapped and several girls whoo-hooed. He ignored this and gestured elegantly with his hands.

"As our headmaster said, the Sixth and Seventh Years have been taking ballroom dancing lessons for the past eight weeks. Tonight, each house will perform a dance. A group dance, and a solo dance.

These dances will be scored, and there will be a prize. As our dancers know, the winners of the group dance will win one hundred points for their house."

A whistle went through the crowd. Longstreet continued. "The winners of the solo dance will win two hundred points for their house."

A murmur went through the crowd. That was a lot of points for one house.

"Now, we will be drawing to see what order the Houses will perform their numbers. If the Solo Dance Couples would please come up here!" He called out.

Nervously, Lea stood up and smoothed the front of her dress. Sirius lightly put an arm on her back and together they met with the three other couples and all of them drew close to Professor Longstreet.

Out of nowhere Josie appeared by his side and he motioned for her to pass her the small midnight blue velvet bag she was holding.

Holding it before the four couples, Professor Longstreet told them to each stick their hand in and pull out a sphere.

Sirius took a deep breath and stuck his hand in the bag and withdrew a small silvery glittery sphere. He turned it in over in his hands curiously. There was no number.

"Professor…?" he asked hesitantly. Professor Longstreet smiled at him. Then he motioned for the others to pick.

After the four spheres had been picked, Longstreet said, "Now if you could just throw the sphere up into the air gently, a number will materialize."

Eight pairs of eyes watched apprehensively as the four spheres were tossed into the air. Glittering numbers materialized in front of their eyes.

"One," Riley Abbot said tonelessly.

"Two," Thomas Lundstrum said with a resigned face.

"Three," Tasha Abraham announced.

"Four," Sirius finished.

"Okay! So Hufflepuff you'll be performing first, Slytherin follow. Ravenclaw will dance third and Gryfffindor will perform last." Professor Longstreet announced to them and the crowd.

"The dances will be scored out of thirty points each, by our three judges," Tomas waved a hand towards where three unfamiliar faces sat. They all seemed to be the age of their Professors. Two of them were women and one was a man. They didn't smile.

Lea closed her eyes briefly and then opened them. She and Sirius returned to their places and they broke the news to the group.

"Well. This is both good and bad." James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Remus nodded mutely.

"All we can do is wait and see," Marlene said as she gracefully arranged the folds of her dress.

And indeed that was all they could do.

* * *

_A/N: OK! This is the thing, I have been writing and scrapping so many drafts of the final dance competitions, and have decided to focus writing the dance between Lea and Sirius in greater than the others for length purposes, plus I still have to get our hero and heroine together and that's a whole other chapter all together! I hope you enjoyed the descriptions of what the girl's are wearing, I never thought I'd find it so difficult to describe dresses! **Be good and please review! oxoxo**_


	32. Pressure

A/N:_**Thank you** so much for your support, alerts, favs and reviews**. **Your support continues to blow me away and I am so grateful. Anyhooo, enjoy, read and please let me know what you think_.

* * *

_"By 'guts', I mean, grace under pressure,"_

-Ernest Hemingway

Each group had five minutes to quickly go over their routine one more time. Twenty minutes past eight, Professor Longstreet clapped his hand and Josie wheeled out the gramophone. Tomas handed her the music selection of the Hufflepuffs and the Sixth and Seventh year Hufflepuffs grouped in the middle of the Great Hall.

"And now, the Hufflepuffs will perform their group dance which is their interpretation of a ballroom dance called The Jive."

The lights magically dimmed and a hush fell over the crowd. The Hufflepuffs took their position around the center of the floor where the light was the brightest.

The music started, a fast, jazzy number and the Hufflepuffs began to dance. Lea felt goosebumps break out on her skin.

She had to admit, she was quite surprised at how well they danced, no offense to the Hufflepuffs. Their jive was lively, snappy and light hearted.

Their dance last for less than two minutes, but to Lea and the others who had endured the past eight weeks of, it seemed like an eternity.

When the song ended, so did the dance. The lights brightened again and the students and teachers clapped, the Hufflepuff house whistled and shouted.

"Whoa that was really good!" Marlene whispered to Peter who nodded.

"I never thought that we would all take this dancing stuff seriously." He replied.

"Three hundred points is worth being serious, even about ballroom dancing," Sirius said as he watched the Hufflepuff dancers with narrow eyes.

"Judges, if you would please put up your scores!" Professor Longstreet asked.

The first man waved his wand and a seven formed in the air. The audience clapped.

The second man pointed his wand and a number seven appeared as well.

Then the woman raised her wand a number eight shot out. The Hufflepuff house cheered loudly.

"Twenty-Two points," Remus muttered.

"Gives us room to work with," James mumbled back. The Slytherins went off to the side and got into a huddle.

The process was repeated again and Professor Longstreet informed the school that the Slytherins would be performing a Paso Doble.

"Stinkin Slytherins," James muttered as he watched critically.

"They're good," Lily whispered.

They were better than the Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins may be a lot of things, arrogant, cunning and Death Eaters in training (okay perhaps not all of them) but they were sharp dancers. Their Paso Doble was powerful, arrogant and technically sound. Their scores evidenced this. They received a twenty-seven out of thirty.

"The wiggle room has definitely lessened." Peter said glumly.

The Gryffindors became antsy waiting for their time. They watched as the Ravenclaws performed a tango number. They received twenty-five points.

"Finally it's our turn! Let's just get this thing over with!" James huffed in annoyance. Sirius clapped a hand on his mate's back. "Good luck,"

"Thanks. We'll see you in about ten minutes or so."

"And so begins a minute and a half of our lives," Marlene mumbled under her breath. She grabbed Remus' hand and strode off to meet with the rest of the Gryffindors.

"And now, the Sixth and Seventh Year Gryffindors will perform their group dance, a free style version of the salsa." Professor Longstreet gamely informed the crowd.

The lights dimmed and they took their positions. Lily gave James a small smile and he winked at her return. She felt her smile grow wider.

The music started, a single, haunting note that wove its magic around the dancers. The music was saucy and sensual. Lea and Sirius watched interestedly at their fellow housemates.

Lea's eyes widened as she watched Lily move. "I thought we were supposed to taking ballroom lessons to improve our dance etiquette! Lily's dancing like a…like a…." she was at a loss for words.

"Well..it _is_ the salsa," Sirius replied mildly. He was very impressed with his housemates.

Lily flushed with radiance as she sensually moved her hips to the rhythm. James gracefully turned her under his arm and she flashed away from him in a flurry of movement.

Remus and Marlene and another couple weaved around each other rather elegantly as they performed their dance. Lea smiled wryly to herself, only Remus could take a sensual dance like the salsa and dance it so gracefully.

She was also mildly surprised to see that Peter was in fact, quite light on his feet. He wasn't as tall as the three other boys, or as lean, being a little bigger built, but he had excellent footwork.

Remus kept his eyes focused on Marlene as she turned around him and skimmed a hand up his arm playfully. Even though they had practiced this dance a thousand times, his heartbeat quickened every time she touched him innocently.

He adjusted his movements and lightly placed his hands on her hips as they moved together in sync. Marlene smiled as he put, what struck her, as a respectable distance between their bodies. What a sweetheart.

She felt her mouth widened in a grin as he spun her out and twirled her and skilfully ghosted his fingertips across her lower back when she twisted around.

Lily and the others were lost in their own magical little world as they continued to dance. Their number was a fast and flashy one, and it suited the Gryffindors nicely.

All the boys picked up their respective partners and lifted them above their heads. In one fluid motion the six couples spun in multiple circles as the music came to an end.

* * *

Cheers and claps echoed through the ballroom as the boys carefully eased their partners down. The applause continued for a good minute or two before Professor Longstreet waved his hand signalling for silence.

The school fell quiet as they looked towards the judges. Lea cocked her head to the side and studied the judge's expressions. Suddenly she had an ominous feeling about this.

The first judge gave them an eight. Sirius shifted his weight on his feet.

The second judge waved a nine in the air. Lea sucked in a breath and nervously watched the third judge.

He formed another nine in the air. The school applauded but the Gryffindors felt a little disappointed.

They had received a total of twenty-six points.

They had lost.

"And that concludes the group house dances! As per the tallying of points, the Slytherins house has won this part of the competition with twenty-seven points. With that, they receive one hundred points!" Professor Longstreet said.

A loud cheer erupted from the Slytherins as they congratulated their housemates. The Gryffindors made their way back to the table with disappointed faces.

Lea got up from her seat and gave Marlene a sympathetic look. Taking both of her hands in her she said, "You guys danced with more heart though. I was really blown away."

"Thanks." Marlene replied. She sat down and sucked down a mouthful of water from a goblet. She gestured for Remus to sit next to her and he complied with her request.

"You know, I know we wanted to win and everything, but at the same time, it was really fun to learn how to dance like that," Lily mused thoughtfully. She dabbed at her face with a napkin.

"Well I'm glad you see it that way Lils," James said. Then he turned to Sirius and gave him a beseeching look. "Padfoot mate, you have got to dance as if you're dying or something. We have to win!"

"No pressure though," Peter added.

"Thanks. You danced really well Wormtail. I was quite impressed." Sirius replied.

A look of surprise came across Peter's face. Sirius rarely paid him compliments. He cracked a small smile and sat down.

"Now we have to sit through the whole thing again for the solo dance competition, hooray," Lea said sarcastically. The more she had to wait, the more agitated she became.

Sirius placed his hands on her shoulders and sat her down firmly. Then he eased down beside her and placed a hand over her knee.

"Stop moving around and don't be nervous. Patience, grasshopper. Nothing to do but to sit and wait,"

"Like we do with everything in our lives," Lea muttered in reply. Sirius shushed her as Professor Longstreet began to speak again.

* * *

The process was the same for the solo dance couple as it was for the group dances. Hufflepuff would perform first, and then the Slytherins would dance, followed by the Ravenclaws. Lea and Sirius would dance last.

They watched as the Hufflepuffs performed a free style dance that was based on the Viennese Waltz. She thought she could pick up on some moves from the Jive as well. They danced reasonably well and they received twenty-three points.

Marlene cast a sideways glance at Remus who was still sitting next to her. In the brief interlude between the next dance couple, she decided to make a decision.

"Hey," she said turning her body towards him.

"Hi," he smiled at her.

"You want to make a girl who lost a dance competition tonight happy?" she asked with a teasing grin.

"Depends on what I might have to do. Sorry Marlene but I'm not gonna dress up like a drag queen," Remus quipped.

She laughed and then fingered the gold hoop in her ear. "I was thinking something else,"

"Go ahead…."

"Do you want hang out sometime?" Marlene asked suddenly very nervous.

"Isn't that what we do now?" Remus asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well….when I said hang out, I actually meant…make out…after going on a date sometime," Marlene corrected feeling her skin flush.

Remus' eyes widened and he mentally had an aneurysm. "Erm….pardon?"

"I think I just asked you if you wanted to go out with me. You know, since it's the seventies and all I thought I'd be modern and cool and all that." Marlene said in her usual confident manner.

Remus couldn't speak. He seemed to have been on "pause mode".

_"Focus you git! Someone press the goddamn play button!"_ his mind screamed.

"Yeah! I'd love to go out on a date with you." He babbled finally going back on play mode.

"Lovely. So it's settled. Next time we go to Hogsmeade, we'll go out on a date, we'll bypass Madame Puddifoot's if that's okay with you,"

"Sounds great to me. And until then, now what?"

"Now, we do this, shhhh." Marlene said placing a warm hand over his and linking it with hers on top of his knee before directing her attention to the next couple who was about to dance.

Remus internally performed a rousing jive of happiness at this. She was holding his hand! She wanted to go out on a date ! She asked him.

Wait, _she_ asked him.

Remus internally frowned. Something wasn't right. She asked him out.

He had to do something. So far she had taken all the intiatives and while that was fine, Remus was a little old fashioned and he liked being the man.

"Marlene," he whispered.

"What?" she replied.

Remus tipped a finger under her chin and turned her face towards him. Right then and there, and hoping she wouldn't box his ears for this, he pressed a kiss to her lips.

She smiled at him. "What was that for?"

"Just another way of saying yes to all the questions you asked beforehand." Remus said with a shy smile.

"I should ask you questions more often then…" Marlene giggled before directing her attention back to the dancers again.

* * *

Lea eyed Narcissa Malfoy interestedly as she gracefully moved across the floor with Rabastan Lestrange. When she had found on that fateful Friday that she would be competing against Narcissa, she wouldn't have imagined that Narcissa would take it so seriously. They performed an enchanting Quickstep. Lea couldn't help inch further and further off her seat as she watched entranced with their dance.

"They are really good!" she whispered.

"They're Slytherins," Sirius replied shortly. Lea shot him a look of annoyance. Sometimes his prejudice towards Slytherins irritated her but she chose not to comment on it right now.

Narcissa held her position as the lights came on again and she breathed a sigh of relief. Rabastan for once, smiled at her somewhat nicely and stepped back from her, releasing her as he did so.

Everyone looked towards the judges. The first one shot out a eight.

This was followed by one nine. The third judge gave them another nine.

"Twenty-six," Sirius exhaled. He ran a hand down his face.

Finally, it was their turn. They had gone off to the side as the Ravenclaw couple had performed their number. After they had quickly gone through their routine one last time, they stood and watched the dance. Lea took several deep breaths and tried to calm her racing nerves. Sirius noticed this and he put a reassuring arm around her shoulder.

"It's okay to be nervous," he murmured.

"There's so many people!" she whispered back.

"You're going to do fine. You're a lovely dancer." He said without taking his eyes off the current couple.

"Thanks,"

The song ended and the lights came back on again. Like with the other couples the Ravenclaw dance couple was met with cheers and applause.

"What'd you think?" Lea inquired.

"Technically sound, emotionally unavailable," Sirius said curtly. Lea nearly laughed.

They watched as the judges conversed with each other before deciding their respective scores. The whole school looked at them.

Judge number one waved his hand a figure eight materialised.

Judge number two, the woman gracefully drew a number ten in the air.

"A ten?" Sirius said shocked. Lea swore.

And then the last judge shot out a number nine. The Ravenclaws burst into raucous cheers.

"Twenty-seven points," Lea voiced glumly.

* * *

_A/N: Aaannnd the pressure is piled on even more! Show your favourite boy Sirius your support and ease his nerves (and Lea's too) and **be good and review! xoxoxo**_


	33. A Minute and A Half of Our Lives

_A/N:Oh my...you guys..this is the LAST CHAPTER. I can't believe I made it this far and I would have never written this much if it hadn't been for all of your incredible support. Seriously, it just astonishes me and I am very grateful. I hope you've enjoyed this fic as much as I have enjoyed scribbling it out. **Thank you for all your alerts, supports, favs and reviews. I can't thank you enough.** If you have any questions or comments or anything at, let me know. And for those who have asked, I do plan on writing and posting another fanfiction, very soon, so keep your eyes peeled out for it. ;) So sit back, enjoy and let me know what you think!_

* * *

_"It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It is the one who won't be taken who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live,"_

-Bette Midler

Sirius set his jaw. "We can do better. Just remember to really put every single emotion you feel about me, the world, towards unresolved childhood issues, whatever, into the dance."

Lea laughed a little bit at this. "Can I imagine clobbering you after the dance?"

"If it makes you concentrate better, by all means be my guest," Sirius replied.

The lights dimmed again and Professor Longstreet stood up again.

"And now, dancing the solo dance for Gryffindor, Sirius Black and Lea de Tourval!" Professor Longstreet announced.

Sirius wrapped his hand firmly around hers and strode out on the dance floor. Lea was suddenly glad that he was the one leading her because she wasn't so sure she could do this.

He looked like a warrior out to go to the battlefield. His shoulders were straight, head held up high and when he turned to face her, she caught the glint in his eyes. He wanted to win.

Lea nervously glanced around the darkened Great Hall and her eyes adjusted to the low lighting Sirius' eyes shone even in the dimness and she felt a burst of resolve explode within her. She was Lea de Tourval. She could do this.

Sirius had never felt so nervous in his short life before. This was different than playing Quidditch in front of a huge crowd. This was more personal, more intimate. But then he caught the look on Lea's face and her nervousness was evident. So he decided to man up and be confidant for the both of them. Someone had to and this time he stepped up to the task.

He felt the first note of the song they had chosen. It felt familiar, comforting and beautiful all at once.

Sirius gave her a heated gaze and she raised her chin up. A small smirk appeared on his face.

Lea strode away from him, her hips swaying and then she turned sharply and threw him a deep-seated look of disdain. Sirius stalked lithely towards her as he circled around her slowly, his eyes doing all the talking for him.

He grabbed her hand and effortlessly spun her out where she extended an arm and arched her neck. Sirius remembered all the times the sight of her exposed neck had driven him bananas. His eyes darkened and he spun her towards him again. She lunged and extended one leg back. Sirius braced their weight and ran a tantalizing hand up the length of her outstretched leg.

Her skin was smooth and soft and he revered it with an appreciation unknown to anyone.

Lea felt his clever fingers induce a dreamy feeling in her blood. She felt lighter than she had in weeks.

They worked their way across the floor with sharp steps, lower halves grazing against each other. Sirius gripped her hips as they swivelled, giving the illusion that _he _was the one controlling _her._

In reality though, it was _she_ who was controlling him. Lea may not have known this, but it was her scent, her skin and her eyes that held him in an iron grip. When he spun her out and she stretched her legs to the side in a graceful split, highly inappropriate thoughts once again entered his mind.

The music picked up and Sirius twirled her faster. He felt a rush of pure delight as he watched her body move.

He had picked up that she was a little sensitive about her body, not having enough feminine definition or whatever, but he didn't care. Each body was different and lovely in its own way. He liked that. Everyone was his or her own individual mould.

Besides he felt her lines complimented her delicate features. In any case she looked good in both the standard uniform and in a fancy dress.

She hooked one leg around his waist and Sirius hovered over as he bent the pair of them in an intimate arc. Someone whistled.

Quick as a flash he brought them upright again and spun her out, letting go of her. Since it was a freestyle dance, they could incorporate other dance moves into this dance.

Sirius had talked her very hard into performing a few moves from the salsa. He watched her as she effortlessly rolled her hips. His lips turned upwards. Then he mentally kicked himself in the butt for suggesting some salsa moves because Lea pulled herself flush against his body and turned around so her back was against his. Then she tantalizing slid down the length of his body, hers barely touching his, teasing him, and she trailed a hand down him above her. She sunk to the ground, apparently in anguish from longing something she couldn't have (apparently as her character that was).

Sirius exhaled and gripped her outstretched her hands and swung her gracefully in a full circle, her body suspended in the air by his momentum. Then he let go of her and threw her away from him, she slid across the floor neatly and held out her arms towards him.

Sirius looked at her with enigmatic eyes as she gracefully came to her feet. Striding towards him she pretended to slap him in apparent anger.

Lea was suddenly almost painfully aware of Sirius' sharp eyes on her body, more so than ever before. It made her nervous but she didn't want to end up looking like an idiot in front of the entire school. But at the same time, she felt different dancing with him tonight. It felt nice to dance with someone you may fancy.

And then at that moment, she realised she really did like Sirius.

Almost intuitively she danced, she was fluid, lithe and sharp at the same time. When Sirius caught her hand in his again to perform a lift, she felt alive.

He lifted her in to the air and spun them quickly and people began clapping. Then he dropped her, the same way they had been practising, several people gasped and he caught her smoothly by her wrist, her body just mere centimetres from the floor.

Turn, swivel, turn, swivel, they smoothly travelled across the dance floor, Lea stared at him with hot eyes and Sirius made a long, slow pass up and down her back.

To her credit, she didn't shiver like last time, because this time they were dancing for something more than just them. She flung her arms around Sirius's chest from behind and he artfully dragged her limp body as he walked stoically around the dance floor. Then he sprung from her hold and flung her back, a woman disposed.

A good deal of their dance depended on the their body language and facial emotions, and even if the judges couldn't properly see them, Lea and Sirius played their characters well.

Sirius dipped her low and slid a hand up her smooth leg and he skimmed her upper body with his nose. Just as he did in practice, he pressed a kiss to the hollow of her throat. However, unlike in dance practice, his lips lingered a little longer than usual…

She smiled brilliantly up at him and he felt a little tug at his heartstrings. A smile that could blind someone, he thought.

One movement melded smoothly into another as they continued to dance. Sirius wanted to touch her, he wanted to be close to her. He mentally collapsed on the inside when she placed one leg on his neck, leaving her to perform an almost vertical split, several people clapped and whistled as he spun them around. He was very aware of her high-heeled shoe right next to his face and breathed a little easier when she carefully lifted her foot off his shoulder.

They become wrapped up in their own little world that was created from the music and the dance. Lea gave him a deep look that he couldn't read as he spun her again. He bent her backwards as she hooked one leg around his waist and bent the other so it was off the floor. Sirius spun them quickly as the song began to wind down signalling the end of the dance.

Sirius held Lea closely for a moment as the last notes of the music faded. Daring not even to breathe, they remained still, and then the lights gradually become brighter.

Thunderous applause greeted them. Several Gryffindor boys were stomping their feet on the ground and a few people where whistling. Sirius gently brought her upright and set her on her feet. Lea's shoulders slumped down in relief and she closed her eyes.

* * *

"Well, we did it. A minute and half of our lives is officially done." Sirius smiled at her. Lea gave him a weak smile in return and he eased back from her gently. They turned towards the judges. Everyone held their breaths as the judges stared at the couple.

The first judge shot out nine. Lea clapped a hand over her mouth.

The second judge waved a number ten. Sirius' mouth dropped open.

Then the third judge raised his wand. A t_en_.

The Gryffindor House went wild. They flooded the dance floor and Lea felt Lily's scent envelope her as her arms hugged her tightly.

"YOU GUYS, YOU WON!" She yelled. Lea winced.

"Yeah, I heard you, you just yelled in my ear," she replied quietly. She still felt a little dazed.

"Good job Padfoot!" James clapped a hand on his mate's back. Sirius let out breath and then laughed in relief.

"Two hundred points! Well done you guys." Peter beamed. Marlene elbowed her way to them and grinned widely at them. She grabbed both of their hands with hers.

"Your dance was so beautiful, you lot. It was incredible." She said sincerely. Sirius beamed with pride.

"Can you believe that eight weeks all culminated to this?" Remus asked wonderingly.

"It was sure an eventful eight weeks," James replied drawing Lily closer to his side. He pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. Lea felt a wave of contentment wash over her at the sight of them, much like the one Sirius had felt before in the library.

"Look! Look they're giving us the points!" Someone shouted. The Gryffindors all looked up towards the Giant Hourglass that was now filling up with brilliant blood red rubies. Sirius watched satisfied as he heard the gentle clanks of them piling up on each other. He turned towards Lea. "You think you've let go enough of your nerves to finally eat?"

Her lips curved. "Yeah, I think I have."

Sirius' eyes twinkled. "Great." He gently took her hand and drew them away from the jubilant crowd. Once they had broken through the crowd he let go of her and guided her to the table with his hand lightly resting on the small of her back.

Lea felt herself finally relax and a pleasant feeling spread throughout her. She liked how he wasn't totally touchy feely. She remembered what he said to her all those weeks back,

_No, actually I touch you a fraction of when I want to_

And even then, he didn't push or toe the line. She remembered that he hadn't pushed her when he had almost kissed her last night, instead stepping back and respecting her resolve. She smiled at the memory. Lea glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

Sirius noticed this and gave her a quizzical look. "What?"

"You're a good guy Sirius," she replied enigmatically before sitting down. Sirius felt himself flush slightly and he ran a hand through his locks.

"Thanks?" he replied cautiously.

Her shoulders shook as she chuckled. "It's a compliment. You're welcome."

* * *

Sirius turned her around and watched her as she moved to the music. Although his lips were curved, his eyes were serious. The song wound down and he took her by the hand and led them off the dance floor. He waved to Lily and James who were sitting at the table and talking. James gave him a thumbs-up.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked smiling.

"To a place where I can hear myself think!" He replied guiding to her the grand staircase. Sirius couldn't stop staring at her legs as she stretched them out.

"Well the evening went all right yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah, we won." Sirius replied getting more comfortable.

They sat there for a while, just shooting the breeze and idly chatting for awhile, not feeling the urge to return to the crowd.

"We should get back to the ball. The others will wonder where we are." Lea said stretching her arms over her head. They had been hiding out for the last half an hour.

Sirius stood up and held out his hand for her and pulled her up. Together they walked returned to the dance. He didn't let go of her hand.

He took his time walking her back. He itched to touch her. Even though it'd be a bad idea.

"Oh great!" Lea complained. Sirius chuckled and slipped an arm around her. "Another slow song."

Then it occurred to her that Sirius's arm was around her. Again. And they were not dancing.

"Uh Sirius?"

"Let's dance?" He asked turning her towards him. Her breath caught as she saw how close they were together.

Ignoring her protests he tugged her towards the dance floor and settled his hands at her waist and she resignedly wrapped her arms once again around his neck.

He watched her with solemn eyes and brought her even closer to him. Lea closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest; he put his chin on top of her head. Together they swayed to the music slowly.

Sirius nudged her head away from his body and stared at her with a heated gaze. She nearly flinched but then he caressed her face gently with one hand.

"Don't break my nose for this," He murmured his face close to hers. She could feel her own heart racing. Lea could fully comprehend the intention that was in his eyes. She nodded imperceptibly.

Sirius bent forward and pressed his lips against hers.

She felt as if a new energy had been injected into her.

Cautiously, Lea tangled one hand in his hair and her other arm settled down on his hip. Her lips parted unknowingly and Sirius humbly accepted this as permission to go further. He deepened the kiss, drinking from her mouth. She was hot, sweet and potent. Still he wanted more.

A soft moan escaped from her lips. A kiss was not supposed to feel this good. He bit her lip gently. Lena responded by crushing her lips to his again.

It was another minute and half of her life she would remember. Sirius tore himself away from her unwillingly. He knew if he didn't stop, he'd want more and more and there was no way in hell she'd give him that. He kept his arm around her, and unwillingly met her eyes. Her hands were still around him, her lips were soft and swollen from his.

"Your lips are nice," she offered lamely. Sirius nearly chuckled at that.

"Thank you," he said smoothing her hair.

For a moment they didn't say anything. Then Sirius reluctantly said, "You're going to start talking now, aren't you?"

Lea nodded. She pursed her lips. Sighing she looked at him with frank eyes. "Yeah I am. Sirius, you infuriate me, you know that?"

"Yeah I tend to have that effect on people,"

"And I kind of like it. But—"

Sirius put a finger to her lips. "Something tells me that you're not going be jumping up and down and wanting to be my girlfriend as of right now." He smiled a little sadly.

Lea felt her heart crack just a tiny little bit at seeing this smile. What a heartbreaker. That smile could cause serious damage, she thought. "No, I'm not," she said a little regretfully.

Sirius nodded and spun her out and then back in again. Taking her hand in his he watched her with a thoughtful expression. "That's okay."

"It is?" Lea asked surprised.

"Yeah," he replied decisively. He dipped her low and skimmed a hand up her body.

"If there's one thing I learned about you, which I think is the most important thing, is that you like your space." He brought her back up and lightly settled his hands on her hips.

"My space?" she repeated.

"Yeah. You like doing things on your own time and all that kind of jazz. It's cool."

"Thank you?"

"Your welcome. Which is why, I'm going to ask you, if perhaps you'd like to go out on a date with me to Hogsmeade sometime after the holidays. "

"A friendship date?" she teased.

Sirius smiled and twirled her under his arm. "Not this time. I'm pretty sure mates don't kiss each other like we did before,"

"Well…some mates do," she bit her lip to keep herself from laughing.

"I'm also pretty sure you don't want to become that kind of mate with me either," Sirius's eyes twinkled merrily.

"You're correct on that one."

"So yeah, maybe you and I could go out on a proper date sometime," he repeated. Inside his head he was holding his breath.

Lea's eyes shone with a warmth he hadn't seen before. She brought him closer to her and ran a finger over his brow. Her lips curved. "Yeah I would, I'd really like that."

Sirius's shoulders slumped in relief and Lea looked at him affectionately. Then she pressed a very light kiss to his lips. "What was that for?" Sirius asked surprised.

"My way of promising you that I won't give you a pair of antlers in the case you piss me off between now and our proposed date." She replied.

Sirius grinned and shook his head. He grabbed both of her hands and then spun her around quickly and Lea tipped back her head and laughed and laughed and laughed.

FIN

* * *

_A/N: Well that was it... the LAST CHAPTER. I hoped you liked it and the endings, I had my own reason for ending it between Sirius and Lea that particular way, if you want to know just give me a shout. Thanks for all your support, time, patience and encouragement. **Be good and please review! xoxoxo**_


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